A/N: Okay, readers, at long last, I am back with "Firelight"! More is going to happen in Part Three then you could ever imagine, and I can't wait for it! I'm so glad that I've gotten back to writing this story!

I apologize for my lengthy absence. I have been taking classes, job searching, and in my free time I have been writing other stories. The stories I have spent the past month-and-a-half writing aren't necessarily stories that I plan on posting. I have had a lot of ideas for Naruto stories, and I was experimenting. The odds are that I will never release any of those stories to the public. They're either too cheesy, or I'm simply not interested enough in them.

Anyhow, now that my rambling is done, welcome to Part Three of "Firelight"! In case you haven't noticed, I have decided to name each of the parts to this story. Not only does it help break it apart better, but it makes it far more interesting. Thus far, these are the names for Parts One, Two, and Three of "Firelight":

Part I: Inception
Part II: Shadows
Part III: Secrets

Anyway, that's enough from me for now. Enjoy the first chapter of Part Three: Secrets! Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

Part III: Secrets: Chapter Twenty-Three

Star City

Two Days Later

"I mean it, Arrow. I haven't heard from Robin in over a week. The last I spoke with him, he said that he was sending Cyborg to Steel City to help the other branch of Titans that are based there. Since then, I haven't heard a word from him."

On the outside, it's the largest mansion in Star City owned by a wealthy business tycoon. When making it past the sparkling gates, past the lavish fountain, and inside the front entrance, it's still an ordinary mansion. However, if someone manages to get as far as the extravagant library, discovers the secret room behind an exceptionally tall set of bookshelves, and figures out the code to get inside the elevator, then they might just have a chance of discovering the surprises waiting for them beneath the mansion's exterior. Of course, even then, the "maybe" factor is strong.

Currently standing in a large room beneath the mansion, clad in emerald and stroking his blonde-colored beard, is Green Arrow. The room is filled with blinking lights, buttons, switches, and of course, a massive monitor. On the monitor, clad in his full black uniform, is Batman. The frown he wears, as well as his stiff posture and grave tone, makes it very apparent that he didn't contact Green Arrow for a friendly hello. Everything about his demeanor is explicably serious.

It takes a moment, but at last the Star City hero responds. His tone sounds concerned as much as confused.

"You're right. That is odd. There's definitely something strange about your ever-loyal ward not contacting you; especially with a villain like Black Shadow on the loose." Giving a short, contemplative, pause, he puts in, "But I don't understand why you're asking me about this. Robin hasn't contacted me any more than he's contacted you. I'm sorry, Bats, but I honestly don't see my role here."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Batman responds instantly. "The reason I'm contacting you is because I'm wondering if you've heard anything from Speedy. He's on the team that Cyborg was heading out to help, and if I haven't heard from Robin, I was hoping that maybe you heard something from your ward instead."

Shaking his head, Green Arrow gives a sardonic chuckle. "You're asking me if I've heard anything from Speedy? I've told you before that we haven't spoken to each other in five years. The only thing I know about Speedy these days is that he's alive and well, and that's only because I keep an eye on the News. If you contacted me hoping that I know what's going on with the Titans, then you're out of luck."

Not happy at all with Arrow's response, the Dark Knight sighs in discontentment. "What about Canary? You said once that Speedy still contacts her. Has he reported anything to Canary?"

"No, he hasn't," he states bluntly. "If he'd told her anything, she would have reported it to me."

It is here that Batman's sigh becomes an aggravated grunt. "Well then, it looks like I'm at a dead end. You and Canary haven't heard anything, I haven't heard anything, and no matter how many times I try reaching Robin, he won't answer his communicator." Raising a gloved palm to his temple, he adds in distress, "Hopefully he isn't doing anything stupid."

The green-clad man gives a smirk. "It's nice hearing you say that for once. Usually I'm the one wondering if my ward is doing something stupid."

Fixing Green Arrow with the sternest expression of his life, Batman ignores the remark as he makes a statement. "Whatever past quarrels you have with Speedy, now might be the time to try getting past them, Arrow. Superman and I are needed in the UK for an important mission, and if worst comes to worst with Black Shadow, it might be you who the Titans are forced to depend on."

The green-clad man gives another chuckle, this one more scornful than before. "Believe me, Bats. If something happens, I would love to help them. If the Titans are in danger, I would hop in my jet and get to them as fast as I can. But if it does come to that, you should know that it won't end well. Five years of bad blood isn't just something you can stick a bandage on and patch up. If I went anywhere near Speedy, even if it was to take out a dangerous villain, we would start right where we left off; shouting, arguing, and playing the blame game."

Though Batman is wearing a mask, Green Arrow can still feel his glare.

"In that case, then maybe you should contact the Titans East now and get a jump on it. The sooner the arguing starts, the sooner you can get past it." Sounding more spiteful than before, he says his final words. "If you learn anything about what the Titans are up to, I would appreciate it if you would let me know. Batman, out."

Once that is said, the screen goes completely dark. Though the Dark Knight is out of sight and can no longer hear him, Green Arrow glares at the monitor and gets in one last remark.

"You have no idea what you're asking me to do. If you had any idea at all about the level of conflict between me and Speedy, you would never think about making that kind of suggestion."

East Coast: Interstate 95

Meanwhile…

The passenger side window is down, her golden-brown curls are tied into a ponytail, and America's Top Twenty Hits are playing on the radio. Cyborg is behind the wheel fully-clothed by skin, his holographic rings functioning flawlessly. As he drives he sings along with the current song, sounding nothing but jovial. In the back, laying across the seats with his head leaning against the armrest of the door, is Speedy. Originally he was playing games on his phone, but he eventually lost interest and decided to nap. The archer has been sleeping for a while now, his maroon t-shirt and tan cargo shorts thoroughly wrinkled. Glancing in the T-car's rearview mirror, Damiana observes his closed eyes and thick red lashes in curiosity. How a person can sleep so soundly in a moving vehicle, she'll never know.

Nonetheless, the girl doesn't really mind him sleeping. One thing that she has learned about Speedy during the past couple days is that he and long car rides do not mix well. The past forty-eight hours have been filled with bored sighs, "How much longer?", and "Would it kill you to change the station?!". A couple of times Speedy tried changing the station himself, making Cyborg very unhappy. As a result, the archer was permanently banished to the backseat.

Of course, in reality, Speedy's actions don't matter a whole lot. After two seemingly endless days of being trapped inside the T-car, the three uncostumed heroes are finally nearing Metropolis. Though they still have approximately three hours until entering the city, the traffic is starting to get heavier, suggesting that they're heading in the right direction. Recalling exactly the reason they're going there, Damiana knows that she should feel nervous beyond belief, but she isn't. Oddly enough, she has been in the exact same boat as Speedy; bored, jittery, and ready for action.

The past two days feel like they have crawled by, leaving Damiana almost more bored than Speedy. Though admittedly, she does a much better job of hiding it. Rather than sighing and complaining, Damiana has been keeping herself occupied by counting the number of blue cars in the next lane, and seeing how many different languages she can say the word "tree" in. So far the results for each of these is one-hundred and twenty-seven blue cars, and ninety-six languages. The language results are particularly disappointing, as seven of the languages she speaks don't have a word for "tree".

Sadly, now that the alien girl has been going about these tasks for an entire day, she has run out of things to do. It's only lucky for her that the redhead sleeps so soundly. About an hour ago, after going fifteen minutes without seeing a single blue car, and failing to find a word in the Cintari language remotely similar to "tree", Damiana did something that she never imagined being desperate enough do. The girl twisted herself toward the backseat and stole Speedy's phone from where it landed on the T-car's floor after he fell asleep. She knows that she shouldn't have done it, yet the girl couldn't help herself. After all, boredom strikes hard.

She had to figure out how to use it, as Damiana had never touched a smartphone in her life before today, but learning didn't take her longer than a minute. Fortunately, Speedy's phone isn't password protected, so that made getting on it even easier. Initially, Damiana's goal wasn't to snoop. She either wanted to find the games app, or get on YouTube. Even on Dabnod, it was always taught to children that searching through people's things without their permission is wrong. However, despite her strong conscience, one wrong tap is all it took for her previous convictions to dissipate.

Then again, this isn't overly surprising. The sight of thirty shirtless selfies, as well as multiple images of Ino Yamanaka and Tsunade from Naruto, would be enough to make any person curious. Amazingly, none of this compares to how much fanart he has of Erza from Fairy Tail. Erza even serves as his background. Damiana wasn't aware that Speedy watched anime, so this caught her by surprise. What didn't catch her by surprise, on the other hand, was when she stumbled across a twenty-minute video of himself lifting weights. The archer is very proud of his physique; this is for certain. Though she rolled her eyes in disbelief at how arrogant he appeared, Damiana blushed scarlet prior to leaving his images app completely.

Already feeling guilty, Damiana decided to get on the internet and go to YouTube as she initially planned, not wanting to run across any more of his personal stuff. However, this quickly proved to be a mistake, as his email automatically popped up. He was already signed in, thus, bringing her to his inbox. Damiana released a small groan, fully intending to ignore his emails and go straight to the desired location. However, the sight of his username forced her to a halt. Shaking her head, she read the name "DaSexyArrowPrince" with skepticism. From here, as though her eyes had a mind of their own, her gaze shifted to his inbox.

She never opened any of his emails, as that would be taking her unproclaimed snooping much too far, but she did read the titles and descriptions of several of them. One, which made her snicker: "Thank You for Your Subscription to 'Housewife Monthly Magazine'! This month's payment of $19.95 has been received". Another one gained quite a different reaction, making her offended on Speedy's behalf: "LA Modeling: Your Submitted Photographs Have Been Rejected". Then there was one that elicited a surprised gasp: "Mijo's Tacos: You Owe $67.89".

Upon seeing the bill from Mijo's Tacos, Damiana immediately left his email inbox for another website, realizing exactly how personal some of the email messages were. When she left the page, however, she noticed that the browser wasn't blank. Several windows appeared that lead to some of Speedy's frequently used websites and pages. Damiana originally planned on skipping them over, but much like what happened with the pictures and his email, something caught her eye. Specifically, this would be the first window, which lead to a website called "readteenromance . com". More specifically still, the book it lead to was one titled "Beneath the Moonlight".

Her brow raised so high that it practically went through the ceiling, Damiana went to the page without a second thought. Currently, the girl is still on this page. She hasn't considered leaving it, either. Undoubtedly, Damiana is taken very off guard by the story. This is especially true considering how Speedy is the one reading this:

… Tariq was certainly a creature of the night, but more than that he was a creature of passion. He and his fair Elizabeth locked eyes beneath the moon's iridescent light, the young maiden's pale skin gleaming like porcelain. Her eyes shone like pools of aqua, and her plump ruby lips were ripe for the taking. Raising his large hand to trace the bare skin between her neck and collar bone, Tariq leaned over to whisper softly into Elizabeth's ear. The maiden shivered pleasantly at the warmth of his breath on her skin. As he spoke, a single fang brushed against the rim of her ear.

'Dear Elizabeth, do you know nothing about love? Confess to me, my darling. For tonight, I can make you my Queen.'

The maiden's posture stiffened and her breath hitched. This pleased Tariq immensely. What pleasured him more was the feel of Elizabeth running her fingers through his lengthy black tresses, as well as her airy response.

'I admit it, Tariq. Andrew is my betrothed, but I do not love him. I love you, the King of the Night. Take me away tonight and marry me.'

Tariq did not reply verbally. Words were unnecessary. Placing his opposite hand at the small of her waist, he tugged Elizabeth closer and captured her ruby lips in a longing, sultry, kiss. She returned the gesture desperately, passion bleeding thought to him as their mouths danced in growing hunger …

Very suddenly, long before Damiana has time to process what's happening, soft chuckling echoes through the T-car. Thankfully, this laughter does not come from Speedy. Pulling her eyes away from the screen, she glances into the rearview mirror to see that the archer is still peacefully sleeping. Instead the laughter comes from Cyborg. Realizing that he has probably been watching her in his peripheral vision this whole time, Damiana hurriedly closes out of the internet and tucks Speedy's phone into her lap haphazardly.

Shoving a brown strand coming free from her ponytail behind her ear, Damiana does her best to feign innocence. As she has grown accustomed to over the past couple days, she sees humor in both hazel eyes rather than one. Only a second after tucking the device into her lap, Cyborg is vocalizing his thoughts. What he says almost causes her to cringe visibly.

"You know, Speedy's probably going to wake up pretty soon. I'd quit snooping through his selfies and his email, and put his phone back where it was if I were you. Based on what Bee said, he's protective of his phone. If he figures out that you've been messing with it, he won't be happy."

Face deadpanning, Damiana crosses her arms over her chest while doing her best to conceal nervousness. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't been snooping! What would I want to look through Speedy's private things for, anyway?"

Smiling in what could be considered a smug fashion, Cyborg shrugs. "Okay, say what you want. I'm just saying that from where I'm sitting, I could almost swear that you were going through his personal stuff. You've been going back and forth between scowling and smiling so much that you're almost as bipolar as BB at Jump City's annual Meat and Gaming Convention."

Twirling a loose strand of hair around an index finger, the girl's straight-faced expression begins faltering as she fidgets. "Fine. Hypothetically speaking, if I was going through Speedy's private things, which I'm not because I'm speaking hypothetically, it wouldn't be on purpose. Let's say that my original plan was to play games and watch YouTube, but I accidentally hit the pictures icon instead and ran into his selfies. Then when I got on the internet, a few things automatically popped up, and I got to them by accident. In that case I wouldn't be snooping. Looking through his things would have been a complete accident." Frowning guiltily, she asks the metal man, "You aren't going to tell him, are you?"

Smiling lightheartedly, Cyborg momentarily removes a hand from the steering wheel in order to wave it dismissively. "Nah, don't worry about it. I won't tattle on you. I know that you're not looking to leak any secrets or looking for blackmail. There's no harm done."

Sighing in relief, Damiana returns his smile sincerely. "Thanks a lot. I appreciate you not telling on me. Snooping through his stuff really wasn't on purpose."

"It's not a problem. Whatever you saw, I know you aren't going to share it or use it against him, so I don't see any reason to make waves."

Once this is said, the T-car falls silent. The only sounds that can be heard are the radio along with the various noises of traffic. Glancing in the rearview mirror once more to ensure that the archer is still sleeping, Damiana picks up the phone yet again. She is fully prepared slip it into the backseat, not wanting to take the risk that Speedy might catch her.

Before she can do this, however, Damiana sees that she accidentally hit something when she closed out of the internet. This would be a section of Speedy's contacts list titled Miscellaneous. Under Miscellaneous, there is only a single set of contact information. The name is Oliver Queen, a phone number and an email are listed, and the picture next to his name is a simple green arrow on a plain black background.

Having no idea who this person is, and not truly caring, Damiana closes out of his contacts list completely. Once this is done, she is prepared to place it in the backseat on the floor of the T-car where she found it. Before this can happen, however, the archer's phone begins vibrating. Raising a curious brow, the girl brings the device to her face. Popping across the screen is a message, apparently from one of his contacts named "Bill".

Knowing that she shouldn't care, and that it isn't any of her business, Damiana is aware that she should ignore the message. Yet, she doesn't. Instead, more by impulse than by use of mental processes, she taps it. The nature of the short few lines of text confuses her immensely:

"Hi, Roy. We missed u at NA this week. BTW, Dustin came back. U inspired that kid. Way 2 go! Hope to c u once ur back from ur trip! "

Brow raising farther than before, Damiana questions herself internally.

"NA? What the heck is NA? And who the heck is Dustin?"

Realizing exactly the thing that she has just done, opening one of Speedy's personal text messages, Damiana immediately snaps out her trance. Scowling outwardly at her actions, she gives herself a physical slap to the face. Cyborg glances at her oddly, though he doesn't say anything. He simply returns his attention to the road, allowing Damiana to place the phone back in its previous location. The instant it is out of her grasp the alien girl gazes out the window in attempt to return to counting blue cars, pretending that she never touched Speedy's personal item in the first place.

"So, you made it then? You're in Metropolis?"

Somehow the echoing noises of car horns doesn't wake him. Neither does the blaring of the radio, or the sound of Leila angrily shouting for someone to "Put that finger away, or I'll break it!". Yet, as soft as it is in comparison to these other sounds, Robin's voice is immediately able to rouse him. This isn't necessarily because of the voice's owner, but is more or less due to the nature of his inquiry. Is it true? Did they finally make it to Metropolis?

Yawning and stretching, Speedy blinks open his emerald eyes. He has not yet sat up, though he is still able to catch a glimpse of the world through the passenger's and driver's side windows. The only thing seen from every direction, both near and far, are tall skyscrapers. Along with this, the T-car is no longer moving rapidly, but is crawling at a snail's pace. The honking of car horns gets through to the archer as well, as does irate shouting. Admittedly, Speedy has never been to Metropolis. The closest he has ever been is Gotham, which is a short trip across the bay. Even so, Speedy doesn't have any doubts. The area is so packed with skyscrapers, and there is so much angry yelling, that this has to be Metropolis. Gotham wasn't even this bad.

Giving his limbs a final stretch, Speedy shifts positions so that he is sitting up. Seeing his phone on the floor, knowing that it probably landed there while he was sleeping, the archer picks it up and shoves it into his pocket. There's a message there for him, but he doesn't care. He'll check it later.

After taking a moment to readjust himself, Speedy faces the T-car's front. In the center of a screen located on the dashboard is of Robin. He is shown from mid-torso upward, and for the first time in his memory, the Boy Wonder is not dressed in his uniform. In place of the red, green and black shirt bearing the Robin emblem is a black jacket that zips up the front. As for his mask, rather than going maskless like Speedy, Robin has replaced it with a pair of sunglasses. This honestly doesn't surprise him, though. Robin is so paranoid about the other Titans seeing his eyes that it borders on ludicrous.

Meanwhile, a Cyborg who appears fully human is the person who answers him, confirming to the Titan leader that they have indeed entered the city. Leila speaks as well, though it isn't to Robin. Instead she leans out the car window wearing what is supposed to serve as a threatening scowl. Of course, the form-fitting tank top she wears that is printed with black stars, along with the lovely brown curls coming loose from her ponytail, don't work to her advantage. The snarling of her rosebud lips and the cute scrunching of her button nose don't help either. Even so, the archer silently commends her effort; though it is with a smirk.

"Don't mock me! Do that one more time, and I will break both of those fingers! You can't cut us off in traffic, and then almost hit a guy riding a bike! People like you are the reason why world peace doesn't exist!"

He doesn't see who she's talking to, neither does he hear the person's response, but it couldn't be more clear that their statement is negative. Leila's scowls is far worse than before.

"Jerk! Do you talk to your mother with that mouth?! I hope that the fates punish you!"

Without another word, Leila rolls up the passenger side window and plops down grumpily in the seat. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and she pouts lividly. In spite of the girl's anger, Speedy can't stop himself from laughing in amusement. Cyborg, Leila, and Robin visibly stiffen, apparently not noticing that he'd woken up. The archer notes their reactions, though he doesn't much care. Rather, he reaches over the seat and gives Leila's ponytail a gentle, teasing, tug.

"Well, somebody's feisty. You should've taken a nap like me. Maybe you'd be less grumpy."

Speedy doesn't see it, but her scowl vanishes at his remark. Reaching up, she takes his wrist in one hand and her hair in the other, separating her ringlets from his grasp. A small smile appearing, she replies with light sarcasm.

"My hair isn't a pull-string; don't yank on it. And I don't need a nap. I'm not three years old."

The archer smirks at her tone. She's as feisty as ever. Joining the Titans East and starting on this mission hasn't changed this part of the girl's personality, that's for sure.

Reaching inside the pouch attached to the back of Leila's seat, Speedy pulls out a hand mirror and his lucky comb. Peeking at his reflection and seeing the horror that his hair has become, he runs the comb through his short ginger-colored locks while speaking once more. This time Speedy's words aren't just to Leila, but to everyone.

"So, it looks like we're in Metropolis. What's the plan now? We've got Robin on the line, so there has to be one. The Titans would never go into this kind of thing unprepared, after all."

Glancing up briefly from his mirror, he sees as Robin gives a swift, stiff, nod from the screen's other side.

"No, we wouldn't, which is why I'm contacting all of you. It will be another four days until Starfire, Frostbite, and I can catch up to you. We have to drop Raven off in Steel City and collaborate with the Titans there before starting on the road to Metropolis. We're still two days away from Steel City, and once we get there, making it to Metropolis will take two more days. This means that the three of you are going to be on your own for most of the week.

"Just so you know, I didn't send you ahead on impulse. I want you to find the location that Black Shadow sent the signal to, get inside, and figure out why he sent it there. Don't reveal yourselves as Titans, and don't go looking for Black Shadow. Gather whatever information you can. Once the rest of us make it to Metropolis report everything you find to me, and we can formulate a plan from there."

Speedy continues combing his hair throughout the duration of Robin's instructions, taming his ruffled locks back into their usual flawless order. As he does this, he listens to Cyborg's blatant response.

"Okay. We can lay low and stake things out for a few days. I'm not sure if we'll be able to figure out why Black Shadow sent the machine's schematics there, but we'll learn what we can."

A thought coming to him a moment later, Speedy makes his own comment. He doesn't catch it due to his focus on the mirror, but each of them gives a small frown at his words.

"We can do our best to lay low, but Black Shadow could still spot us. He's smart, you know." Removing his gaze from his reflection, he stares Robin down with serious emerald eyes. "I doubt we'll get caught, but try getting here sooner if you can. There isn't much room for error with this one."

Robin gives an additional nod, this one more hesitant than the previous. "I understand where you're coming from. Black Shadow isn't someone to mess around with. We'll be there as soon as possible, and until then we'll keep in touch." Pausing, the Boy Wonder looks at each of them intently before getting in his final few words. "Hopefully we'll be there sooner, but for now Starfire, Frostbite, and I will see you in four days. Good luck, and please be careful. Robin, out."

Once that is said the screen turns completely dark, leaving the T-car in silence. In truth, Speedy has felt agonizing boredom these past two days, but all of the sudden his monotony has vanished more quickly than vapor. He, Cyborg, and Leila are in Metropolis. Their mission has begun.

Later

Metropolis' city center is more crowded than Damiana ever imagined it would be. She stares out of the high window at the street below, watching as people the size of ants scurry about hurriedly. According to Cyborg, somewhere down there is where Black Shadow sent the signal. As soon as they get settled into their cheap hotel rooms, the three of them are going down there to check things out. Cyborg still hasn't told them exactly what building they're looking for, but this doesn't matter much to Damiana. She figures that this mystery will be unraveled soon enough.

Tearing her gaze away from the bustling crowds, the alien girl turns to face the inside of her room. With immaculately clean carpeting, fresh bed sheets, and no signs of vermin, this is at least twenty steps up from the scummy motel room that she used to rent. Even so, this room is still on the cheaper side in terms of hotels. The twin-sized bed is as small as they come, the furnishings are at the bare minimum, and the bathroom and bedroom are both pressed for space. Of course, despite this, it will still do. She won't be in here too much anyway, considering their detective work. At least she gets this room to herself, being the only girl. Cyborg and Speedy are sharing theirs.

Taking a deep breath, Damiana smiles to herself at the thought. It really is a good thing that she has this room to herself. This way she has a chance to process everything that Robin told them in solitude. He gave them their orders more than an hour ago, and Damiana has ran them through her mind at least two dozen times. Yet, she struggles to wrap her head around all of it. Or, more specifically, she struggles to comprehend the small amount of fortune that the fates have given her.

Four days. She, Cyborg, and Speedy have four days to gather as much information as they can, which also gives her four days to get her act together. The fates have blessed her by providing her time to prepare for meeting and fighting alongside a Tamaranean. Not only that, but she can prepare herself for meeting this mysterious solo hero, Frostbite, as well. He looks so much like her brother that it gives her the shivers, so encountering Frostbite will definitely be something that Damiana needs to ready herself for. Honestly, meeting and fighting alongside him could prove to be more difficult than working with Starfire!

Smile momentarily fading as she processes all of this, the girl sighs. Why did her life have to become so complicated? Hunting down a criminal with the Princess of the planet that destroyed her home, and a stranger that is identical to Saeran? Admittedly, Damiana could have a month to prepare for this, and still not feel confident. Hiding the fact that she isn't human on top of everything else will only serve to make this mission even more difficult. Hopefully she can use these next four days to her advantage and pull herself together at least a little bit.

Running a hand through her false brown tresses, Damiana releases a frazzled breath prior to whispering reassurance to herself in her native tongue.

"Calm down, Damiana. You have successfully hidden it that you're a Dabnodian for the past five years. Don't let a single mission change that. Remember, your primary focus is stopping Black Shadow. Don't let one Tamaranean and a Saeran lookalike distract you from this goal." Breathing in deeply without bothering to exhale, she adds, "You've hidden it this long. How hard can it be to keep hiding it?"

Intertwining her fingers within her curled locks yet again, Damiana releases the breath that she was holding. Like the previous breath, it sounds explicably on edge. It takes a very lengthy moment, but eventually Damiana pulls herself together and manages to pick up the duffel bag sitting at her feet. Once it is in her grasp, Damiana leaves her spot beside the window and makes her way toward the room's twin-sized bed.

The girl doesn't plan on unpacking her duffel bag completely. Her hair dye and contact lenses are going to be placed on the bathroom vanity, and the money she brought with her is going inside of a small purse that she picked up during their drive to Metropolis. Besides this, everything else is staying in her bag and getting shoved under the bed.

With this as her plan of action, Damiana sets to work. Her first feat is digging into her bag and removing every dime of money, tucking it into a simple, black, purse with only enough room for cash, change, and necessary cards. Once her money is arranged, the purse's strap is slung over her shoulder and across her torso in an unmistakably secure fashion. They will probably be leaving the hotel in no less than fifteen minutes, so it is best to be prepared.

From here Damiana removes the hair dye and contact lenses from her bag, and sets them atop the bed's comforter. Once the bag is shoved under her bed, she scoops the remaining items into her arms. It doesn't take long for Damiana to head in the direction of the bathroom with these objects in tow. At some point, however, much to the girl's misfortune, she accidentally trips herself on one of the bed's legs. As a result, the boxed items scatter all over the floor, one of them making their way to a cramped crevice in between the twin-sized bed and a miniscule nightstand.

Aggravated by her clumsiness, Damiana ignores the rest of the spilled items and makes her way to the crevice where a box of golden-brown hair dye is wedged. Due to her current predicament, as well as being trapped in a crawling position facing away from the entrance, the girl never notices when the door to her room comes open.

"I'll be ready to go in a few minutes, Speedy. I just wanted to finish setting up some of my things. I may look human, but I still need to recharge my battery. There's this portable alarm system that I want to put somewhere, too. I don't want to take the risk of somebody stealing our stuff."

Speedy leans against the wall nonchalantly as he watches Cyborg set up various pieces of machinery. He sets them up to look as inconspicuous as possible, wanting to do his best to avoid making hotel employees suspicious. Considering how a group of teenagers can afford two hotel rooms in the first place, they might already be suspicious. He isn't sure if Leila or Cyborg noticed, but when they pulled out a card and used debit instead of credit, the man behind the desk gave them a definite odd look. If the cleaning crew comes in only to discover that they have some of the world's most expensive technology, there's no doubt that suspicions will be raised even higher.

Shoving the thought aside for now, Speedy pulls his phone out of his pocket and replies to Cyborg while scrolling through it. His response is simple.

"I get it that you need to set up your stuff, so don't worry. I'm a patient guy when I need to be."

From here the duo falls silent, Cyborg continuing to arrange computers and numerous electrical devices between his bed and the window. Speedy is already set to go with his own belongings, as all he had to do was toss his suitcase down in the center of the second twin-sized bed closest to the door. In truth, he has been ready to go for the past ten minutes, but like he told Cyborg, he doesn't mind. After all, they can't have one of their teammates dropping to the ground because he didn't get to recharge his battery. It is because of this that Speedy uses this opportunity to check his messages.

While he was sleeping in the T-car, he sees that he only received one. This would be a message from his elderly friend from his twice weekly NA meetings, Bill. He contacted him a few days ago saying that he wouldn't be able to show up for a week or two because he's going on a trip. Even if he knew in advance that he wouldn't be at the meetings, it doesn't surprise him that Bill would still send a "good luck on your trip" text. When Speedy reads the message, however, he finds himself more pleasantly surprised than he initially expected.

"Hi, Roy. We missed u at NA this week. BTW, Dustin came back. U inspired that kid. Way 2 go! Hope to c u once ur back from ur trip! "

A happy smile crossing his face, Speedy doesn't hesitate to text the man back.

"Dustin went back 2 NA? Gr8! Tell the kid i feel bad 4 missing him, and i hope 2 c him there once i get back. C u soon."

Speedy is about to press "send" after typing this in, but then adds in a joking remark as an afterthought. The whole time he chuckles.

"Glad u lerned how to use ur phone, btw. Ur family must be proud of ur mad texting skills."

Only after adding this in does he send the message. Once the message is sent, the first thing Speedy does is get on the internet. Cyborg and Leila are both occupied, so he has plenty of time to kill. Besides. He is on the chapter of "Beneath the Moonlight" where Tariq takes Elizabeth away from her wealthy, yet oppressive, lifestyle, and where the two elope. The chapter where they elope is also the chapter with the honeymoon, and secretly, the honeymoon scene is one of his favorites. He has read this book twice already, so he should know!

It's only too sad that before he can get to the necessary website, Cyborg is speaking to him. He can't help but feel a tad disappointed considering how he's getting so close to the wedding scene, but nonetheless, Speedy looks over at the human-looking metal man. What Cyborg says isn't anything surprising. Honestly, he was partially expecting it.

"Hey, Speedy, since I'm busy setting things up in here, can you go check on Firelight next door? If she's done getting settled in, I'd like her to come over here with us for a minute. I have a holographic image of the location where Black Shadow sent the signal. It's going to be a tricky place to search, so I wanted to brief you both before we get started."

His emerald eyes shifting from lethargic to serious, Speedy nods at his request. Turning off his phone and shoving it into his pocket, the archer moves toward the exit.

"Yeah, I'll go get her. As far as I remember, she didn't bring much with her, so she's probably finished unpacking. Getting her over here shouldn't too be hard."

With that being said Speedy exits the room, leaving Cyborg alone with his machinery. When they checked in they specifically requested rooms that are next door to each other, as they want to be close in case of an emergency. One can never be too careful when dealing with Black Shadow. As a result, the archer only travels ten feet up the hallway before ending up in front of Leila's door. Ironically, with as busy as the city is, the corridor he stands in is completely barren. Not a person is in sight, and besides a crying child in a nearby room, not a sound is heard. With it being the middle of the afternoon, everybody must be out exploring the city.

Shrugging indifferently at this observation, Speedy raises his hand to knock on the solid mahogany door. Before his fist can make contact, however, that's when he hears it. From inside Leila's room comes a loud thud, along with an echoing grunt. Alarmed by this, but not so terrified that he calls out her name, Speedy forgets knocking completely and reaches for the door's handle. It just so happens to be unlocked, allowing the archer to pry it open.

Much like had been expected, the girl isn't hurt or in danger. Leila is kneeled over on the dark green carpeting with boxes of hair dye and contact lenses surrounding her. She is partially obscured by a twin-sized bed, so he is unable to see her completely, but she appears to be doing her best to gather the scattered items. The entire time the girl grumbles to herself, most likely in aggravation. Her aggravated tone is something so Leila-like that Speedy can't help but smirk to himself. Once he hears exactly the words being spoken, however, his smirk immediately fades. The phrases leaving Leila's mouth are something very unfamiliar to the archer…

"Galofrait! Nar nak galofrait! Miarnat lalithikan!"

Leila is currently in an awkward position reaching under a tiny nightstand for one of the escaped objects. Based on her tone of voice, her frustration couldn't be more obvious. The thing that isn't obvious, on the other hand, is the language that she's speaking. So stunned is Speedy that he no longer stands outside of her room. Instead he invites himself inside and loiters within the entranceway, listening to what she's saying with confusion and growing curiosity.

The entire time he observes her, Speedy leans against the doorframe and gapes. Only one thought goes through Speedy's head. This thought is not something of a usual nature, but is instead an obscured memory.

*Flashback*

"What?! After everything we've gone through, you're up and out of here just that fast?! Black Shadow isn't the Titans' villain anymore, Leila! You agreed to help us, you fought alongside us, and Black Shadow has you pegged as our ally! He's your villain too, and the Titans are your friends!"

It was the day after they'd fought Black Shadow's robots. Leila had passed out from using her lightning, and Speedy was scared. After she'd slept for twelve straight hours, Speedy was starting to become afraid that she wouldn't wake up. Then Bumblebee checked on Leila, she finally joined the world of the living, she used their shower, and it felt like everything was going to be alright. Until Leila told him that she wasn't sticking with them, anyway. Once she'd told him that, things had turned explosive between them.

Stepping out of the bathroom to glare at him, Leila replied with tangled hair and an incredibly firm expression.

"Listen, Speedy. I really do appreciate everything the Titans have done, and I didn't mind helping you take down Black Shadow's robots. I was there, I helped you guys out, and the Titans East helped me. You may not like it, but that's really all there is to it. I'm not a Teen Titan, and I never will be. I don't belong in the hero world. My place is elsewhere."

He can remember feeling frustrated here. So frustrated that it was unfathomable. In his memory, Speedy can never recall wanting to get through to somebody so badly.

"Look. I know your life has been hard. I can tell just by looking at you that you haven't had it easy. That doesn't mean that you have to keep pushing us away, though. I'll admit that I didn't like you at first, but after we took down those robots, I thought that maybe we could be friends. Bumblebee, Aqualad, Mas and Menos, they want to be your friends, too. Together we could help take down Black Shadow. I'm not usually one for compliments, but I'll be honest. You'd make a great Titan."

In this moment, it was like time stood still for Speedy. Not because of what he'd said, but because of Leila's reaction. She hadn't responded in an angry and stubborn fashion like he'd expected. Instead, her only reaction was fear. Leila's posture stiffened, she turned pale, and her eyes filled with something akin to terror.

In return, Speedy felt his own brand of terror. What the heck did he say to her?!

The only thing he can remember are Leila's words as she rushed to gather her things and exit the Tower. Her voice was just as horrified as her outward appearance.

"I need to get out of here. I can't stay here for another second."

The tough and passionate fire user appeared like a scared animal. She was doing everything she could to dash for the exit, but Speedy didn't want her to go. Leila was their friend. She couldn't go.

So desperate was Speedy for her to stay, that he stepped forward to grab her by the shoulder. He can't remember exactly what he told her. All he can recall is that he said something apologetic to try taking away her fear; to try getting her to stop running. Yet, none of this helped. It only served to make Leila angry.

She scowled, glared at him, and jerked out of his grasp. Speedy had, of course, expected to hear shouting. He did hear shouting, too. Only, it wasn't in English. Instead Leila turned a livid glare on him and shouted something completely unexpected:

"Nax granixindath!"

*End Flashback*

Shaking his head, Speedy forces himself away from the memory and back to the present. To be honest, he'd completely forgotten about the occurrence until now.

When Leila ran off on them, his focus was more or less on the fact that she'd left the Titans. The bold girl with the strong personality and lethal fire abilities had deserted them, and even if he'd tried moving past it, Speedy was devastated for those short few days. So much that he'd shoved those foreign words she'd spoken aside, assuming that he'd imagined the whole incidence. Those words were so strange that they almost sounded unearthly, and this was Leila he was thinking about. She speaks perfect English without any type of accent, and probably can't speak any other languages. Why on Earth would she know how to speak such a strange tongue?

As he stands in the same room with the girl now, however, the incident is an undeniable one. He didn't imagine anything. Leila did speak those strange, foreign, words. Much to his astonishment, she is speaking them right now loud and clear.

"Galofrait nakan! Nar riatheis nak laxinkan!"

It takes a few seconds, but eventually Leila retrieves whatever it is she was reaching for. Moving out from beneath the nightstand, she gathers up the remaining cases of hair dye and contact lenses prior to getting to her feet. As she stands, she dusts off her jeans and gets in one last aggravated word.

"Naxdath."

Raising a hand to scratch the back of his head, it sinks in for Speedy what an odd sight she makes. A young, pretty, normal, teenage girl. Yet, with as normal as she appears, she stands in front of him holding containers of contact lenses and hair dye; things that are meant to obscure her true appearance. Now, on top of the fact that she hides her real hair and eyes, it also turns out that she speaks an entire other language. To make matters more puzzling, Speedy is honestly unable to place this language. It doesn't sound like Spanish, French, Russian, German, Japanese, or any other language that he is vaguely familiar with.

With these facts towering over him, Speedy can no longer refrain from revealing his presence. Leaning more solidly against the doorframe, he speaks to her.

"First you have fire powers. Then you dye your hair and wear contact lenses. Now you speak a whole other language. You're getting more mysterious all the time, Leila."

The instant the words leave his mouth, Leila's posture stiffens. Several of the items she's holding clatter to the ground, but this time she doesn't concern herself with retrieving them. Instead she whips around more quickly than Speedy ever thought possible. Once she sees him standing in her doorway she gapes at him in shock. Beneath this shock, inevitably, is fear.

False green eyes wide, she addresses him. "Speedy? What are you doing in my room? How long have you been standing there?"

Sighing, he replies to her casually, but still with curiosity. "Cyborg sent me to get you. He wants to brief us on the building we're staking out. I haven't been standing here for too long."

After a short lapse in speech, he decides to answer Leila's real question; the unspoken one.

"I'm not going to tell anybody about what I heard. I'm not a gossip." Giving another momentary pause, he continues, "But I have to admit that I'm curious. What language were you just speaking? I've never heard it before in my life."

Another case of hair dye clatters to the ground from Leila's arms, fear becoming the dominant emotion seen in her eyes by now. Squatting down to pick up the hair dye and contact lenses, most likely as an excuse to avert her gaze, Leila responds to him.

"The language I was speaking doesn't matter. Forget you heard it. It's not important."

Running a hand over his face in frustration, Speedy sighs and walks more deeply into the room. Only when he's hovering directly over her does he pause in his steps. When he speaks for once, he doesn't sound like his usual "Speedy" self. Rather, he sounds irritated.

"Leila, I just heard you speak an entire other language fluently like some kind of master. The things I just heard come out of your mouth makes me question if you're American, or if English is even your first language! Then there's this weird hair dying and contact lens thing that you do! How can you sit there and tell me that you knowing an entire other language isn't important?"

Leila peers up at him from her place on the ground with a scowl. "Because it's not important! If it was, I would have told you! Now get out of my room, okay? Tell Cyborg that I'll be over in a minute."

Crossing his arms over his chest in a stern fashion, Speedy returns her scowl. "You can't do this, you know. You can't just speak another language in front of me, expect me to forget about it, and then tell me to get out." Pausing, he adds with livid emerald eyes, "You've spoken this weird language in front of me twice now, Leila, and you've told me and the other Titans that you're keeping your hair and eyes hidden from us. I'm not asking for your life story. All I want is a small explanation so I don't have to be this confused."

Her own eyes growing cold, the girl gets to her feet, stands on her tip toes, and meets his gaze at eye-level. "The only reason you and the other Titans know about the hair dye and contact lenses is because you snooped through my motel room when we went to pick up my stuff that one time. Now, the only reason it has been confirmed that I speak another language is because you barged into my room without my permission. You can't figure things out about me through snooping, and then expect me to give you an explanation."

Sighing, he glares at her harshly. "That excuse doesn't work. Sure, I did some snooping, but these things about you are real, and the fact that I know about them isn't going to change. Since I already know, and since you can't exactly erase my memory, you might as well explain."

Her false green eyes growing colder, Leila gives him the most bitter glare he has ever received. Aggravated by these walls that she's putting up, Speedy is fully prepared to return her glare and shove his way through them. Before he can do this, however, that is when something surprising happens. The bitterness in her eyes begins diminishing, slowly becoming replaced by agony. Only a second after this, moister appears. True, the tears never leave her ducts to trail down her cheeks. She does an excellent job of holding them back. Nonetheless, they still exist.

What the girl says to him is even more of a shock.

"Fine, Speedy. You want an explanation? The language I'm speaking really doesn't matter, because I'm the only one left who speaks it. Everybody else who spoke it, my mother, my brother, my friends and family, all of them are dead. They've been dead for years. Since then I've had to ditch my first language, and speak English." Giving him one final glare, she adds harshly, "Does that satisfy you, or do you want to hear the story of how my people were massacred, too?"

This time it is Speedy's eyes that fill with terror. Along with terror is cold-blooded shock. As he stares at her, the same horrified thoughts spin through his mind like a record.

"Her entire family is dead? They were all massacred? That's completely insane!"

The duo of adolescents stand in place for several lengthy seconds, unable to break away from the stare of the other. Speedy feels like he could stay like this for days, as if Leila's glare has frozen him in place. He does his best to move, or to come up with words, but it isn't any use. He is simply too taken aback to function properly. That, however, is when Speedy finally catches sight of something that enables him to move. Were he standing across the room from her, or even as little as an inch or two away from where he is currently, the archer is certain that he wouldn't have spotted it. Yet, because of his close proximity, he sees it clearly.

Amongst Leila's thick, golden brown, curls, is the tiniest strand of bruise-colored purple. Blinking harshly and shaking his head, Speedy connects his gaze with the strand of hair again. Certainly enough, he wasn't hallucinating. The curly tress truly is purple. Now that he is looking more closely, a few places at her roots are the same color; bruise-colored purple.

Apparently, Leila notices his strange demeanor, because it doesn't take long for her to react verbally. Anger is heard in her tone.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Is it that shocking that my family is dead, or did I just sprout a second head?"

His gaze never leaving her tresses, he replies to her absent-mindedly. "No, it isn't that. It's…your hair… Call me crazy, but…some pieces are starting to turn purple..."

Like a sudden shift in the wind, Leila's tone turns from fury to surprise. "What?! Please tell me you're kidding!"

It takes every ounce of Speedy's self-control to keep from reeling backwards. Out of nowhere the purple vanishes, transforming to a bright shade green.

Gaping widely, he says, "I'm not too sure, but maybe I was. It's green now!"

Before Speedy can shift his gaze from the girl's hair to her face, Leila is retrieving several bottles of hair dye from the hotel room's floor and dashing toward the bathroom. She makes it from the side of her bed to the bathroom almost faster than Kid Flash, the door slamming loudly behind her. Only after she is out of sight does she continue shouting at him.

"Get out of my room now! Tell Cyborg that I might be a while. I have to re-dye my hair!" Pausing, she adds threateningly, "What happens in this room stays in this room, so don't share anything! The language I spoke, the hair, none of it happened! Tell anybody, and you'll regret it!"

Speedy doesn't give any type of verbal response to let her know that he heard. He saunters toward the exit in a confused and frazzled state, shutting the door behind him with a firm thud.

A/N: Well, that's it for now. To be honest, I'm not too sure about this chapter. Personally, I think it could have turned out a lot better, but I had two other versions for this chapter that I didn't like at all, so I decided to go with this one. As a whole, my goal for this chapter was to set the stage for the ensuing drama of Part Three, and this chapter has accomplished it. They're getting closer to discovering each other's secrets, the Justice League was introduced, and they're getting ready to start staking out. So, even if I think that this chapter could have turned out better, I suppose it turned out pretty good.

Also, as a side note, thank you guys so much for all of the reviews for the finale of Part Two! It was an absolute joy to read them! And the 60 follows and 45 favorites that this story has? Thank you so much! I'm glad that there are so many people out there who are reading! "Secrets" is going to be far more intense than "Shadows" or "Inception", so prepare yourselves. If all goes as planned, this is going to be one heck of a ride! :D

Anyway, until the next chapter, and thank you again for reading!

Forever and Always,

OCQ