Category: Teen Titans
Warnings: Language, Slash content
Genre: Drama, Angst
Notes: Connects to Trepidation and Susceptibility.
Summary: Roy and Garth were already broken up. Fate decided that wasn't good enough.

Atypical

That Thursday had started out like any other. It was a cloudy day in Steel City. People went to work. Traffic became congested. A bank was being robbed. Somebody called the Teen Titans.

Though not the same imposing threat as Slade was to Titans West, The Medium had become a name that Bumblebee and her team were growing increasingly familiar - and cautious - with. A summoner of malevolent spirits, The Medium was quickly becoming one of Titans East's top bad guys with his sneaky tactics and incapacitating spellwork.

"Hold it right there!"

The Medium, a thin, lanky individual, stepped away from his current task: holding a sack open for multiple bundles of airborne ectoplasm to drop their collected bundles of cash into. He shot a look over his shoulder lazily.

"Oh, hello, Aqualad. Mas and Menos. Fine day, isn't it?"

The Atlantean prince and preteen twins didn't join in on his easygoing demeanor.

"To put you in jail? Yes, I think we all agree."

"So, my seafaring friend, where are Bumblebee and Speedy? They're usually accompanying you when you try to foil my plans," mused The Medium. Without any concern he continued to hold open the expansive bag, and the balls of lost souls continued to bring him cash.

"If it's any business of your's they are handling a sewer monster sighting downtown. It's just us today," teased the Atlantean. This must have been the signal for attack, for at that moment Mas and Menos clapped their hands together.

"¡Mas y Menos¡ Si podemos!" they declared proudly in unison, and in a flash the two boys sped towards the perpetrator boldly.

"Lost Souls!" ordered The Medium, "Attack!"

It had taken the Titans a few fights to figure out how to fight the undead balls of energy. Speedy's arrows had flown right through them, they were immune to Bumblebee's electricity, and they passed through Aqualad's walls of water with ease. They seemed totally impervious to physical harm, so the team reasoned that by taking out the villain who summoned them first would put the souls at rest. Besides, at their worst the balls of ectoplasm caused only a slight shock and violent chills so they were easy enough to ignore.

Just go for The Medium, Aqualad coached himself. Nearby was a fire hydrant, probably the most powerful source of water for blocks. The local fire department had begun to show disgruntlement at how often they had to come and reseal hydrants that Aqualad destroyed around the city so he'd been trying to go easy on them, but against this villian the situation called for it. With just a little concentration the teen had built up enough force within the hydrant that it quite literally exploded.

Fire Marshall's going to give me quite a lecture for that.

Mas and Menos easily wove between the hostile Lost Souls, finally making their way to The Medium. The criminal had more defence than just a few bundles of dead life forms, however, and with a sudden explosion of spiritual energy the twins were sent flying back.

Aqualad had their backs with a constant flow of freshwater from the street. With all the energy he could pack behind it he slammed the serpent of water into the unsuspecting Medium, forcing the robber into a far wall and driving him into it relentlessly. This gave the twins the time they needed to recouperate and gather their bearings.

The Medium was not the only person who could be caught off guard, though. Aqualad hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings, giving one of the Lost Souls the chance to sneak up on him from behind. It floated through the Atlantean, delivering icy chills into his body and shattering his focus. The steady flow from the hydrant lost its direction and fell to the ground, flooding the sidewalk.

The barrage of water ended, and the Medium was able to free himself. With a grunt of annoyance he got up and snatched the bag of loot once more.

"Aqualad, you aren't looking too good, if I do say so," sneered the thief, sopping wet to the bone.

The Titan was too busy shivering in an attempt to warm up. He was cold-blooded, sure, but the temperature drop nearly sent the Atlantean into shock. "…C-c-cold…"

"No offense, but you look a little scrawny. Have you lost weight?"

He had. A lot of weight, actually. His appetite seriously declined after his nasty separation with the heart breaker Speedy, prompting Bumblebee to wonder what had happened to her team under the surface that was causing them to fall apart. That was why she stopped sending him and Speedy out on missions together: they needed to work out their issues before they could show results.

The problems between the archer and Atlantean wouldn't be worked out in the near future.

Aqualad's teeth were chattering uncontrollably. His muscles stiffened against his will in a last-ditch effort to conserve heat while his body functions began to slow, and the Atlantean had to fight just to stay standing. It was due to this Aqualad was oblivious to the devilish Medium's approach, money sack in hand and Lost Souls floating haphazardly about.

"I suppose I should have told you that I've spent a good deal of time improving my channeling abilities. You'll find my Lost Souls pack a bit more of a punch than before," teased the robed figure as he hovered dangerously close to the Atlantean, "I should also mention that I've increased my skills above conjuring simple ectoplasm."

His body began to feel so heavy. Too heavy to hold up anymore, and finally gravity won out in pulling Aqualad's form to the indifferent paved road. With his vision going dark there was no way for him to see what kind of spell The Medium was beginning to chant not an arm's length away.

"¡Señor Aqualad!"

In the time that Aqualad had been unfairly overcome and The Medium ruthlessly taunted his helpless form, Mas and Menos had collected their senses and evaluated the situation. Their teammate was in immediate danger of being blasted by the eerie light forming in The Medium's motioning palms. Mas and Menos clapped their hands together and dashed straight ahead.

"-Alcrio!" was the final word out of The Medium's mouth before two things happened: the energy he had conjured was let loose upon Aqualad, firing straight down upon the Atlantean with bone-breaking force. The blue-clad Titan's limp body flew several feet, landed with a sickening thud and rolled to a stop. Second, Mas and Menos, just moments too late to prevent the brutal attack, charged The Medium and tackled him to the ground.

The twins encircled the criminal rapidly, taking every chance to kick and hit him while he was down until, finally, the older man conceded defeat. Unconscious, The Medium's face kissed the ground not far away from the cash he had stolen and the souls he'd forcefully enslaved dissapated into thin air. Mas gave him one final kick for good measure.

Menos grabbed his brother's shoulder, clearly concerned. "Aqualad. Él está lastimado."

They ran for the downed teen. He wasn't moving, which was enough to scare them. Of the Titans East Aqualad was the strongest and most durable, by far. They had never seen him get knocked down for any length of time before he launched himself back into the fight.

Menos leaned down and turned Aqualad on his back. The first sign of life: the Atlantean visibly cringed.

"¡Ayúdenos!" Mas called into the emptied city streets. Off in the distance rang police sirens, and with them would surely be an ambulance, but he had to try. "¡Alguien llama nueve-uno-uno!"

---

Bumblebee left Aqualad's room quietly, carefully examining the thermometer that she had just used to take his temperature. She wasn't sure what was considered to be normal temperature for a cold blooded humanoid, but she was pretty sure that it should be higher than 57 degrees in a room that was cranked up to a broiling 84. As a biologist she knew that such a temperature could be extremely dangerous.

She'd retrieved the space heaters from her and the twins' bedrooms and put them on their highest setting. On top of that Aqualad was swaddled in two fleece throws beneath his usual comforter. He was sweating profusely, yet the tips of his fingers were still icy cold. Bumblebee bit her bottom lip and reached for her communicator.

"Speedy, pick up." A few moments of staring at a blank screen, then flash: there was the masked archer. "You know where those old electric blankets are?"

The wire-woven blankets had been put into storage for the winter, but there was a lot of storage in the Titans East tower and Bumblebee hadn't been the one to put them away. Speedy shook his head.

"No idea."

"Great," huffed the young woman, "I'm gonna go down and look. Do me a favor and keep an eye on Al."

He didn't say anything that would indicate that he would rather not have that responsibility, but Bumblebee saw it. He and Aqualad had been going on their third week of ruthless silent treatment for whatever inane reason but she didn't care. Speedy could get over his issues for this.

"Whatever."

"Thank you," she said with a mock-sweetness before abruptly flicking her communicator off.

Once he was sure she was disconnected Speedy hissed, "Bitch."

The attack was not truly personal. Roy Harper had become quite skilled at hating the world lately, what with his reinstated singleness and increasingly consuming addiction. His temper was completely askew, making his old fiery attitude seem like he used to be an aspiring minister.

He was mostly angry at himself for loosing control as badly as he had. Garth had been right: he didn't have so much as a grasp on his life. That made the archer even angrier.

Presuming Bumblebee would have just been tending to Aqualad, Speedy went first to the kitchen. He'd missed lunch. Not that he had an appetite in any sense of the word, but he had to start gaining some weight. The drugs had put him down eighteen pounds to date. Plus, he looked like shit. Another thing Garth had been right about.

Aside from him the common room had been abandoned while Bumblebee scoured the basement and the twins were out in search of Steel City's local healer, an Honorary Titan by the name of Shaman. Shaman had a habit of randomly blinking out of reality and appearing totally elsewhere, however, which could lead to some difficulty in tracking him down. He was also The Medium's biggest enemy with the ability to utterly disable the thief's powers, but to date Shaman hadn't been able to put The Medium down for good.

In the fridge there was nothing appetizing. A few slices of pizza from a two days before, some chicken nuggets leftover from Mas' takeout lunch yesterday, and Bumblebee's gross light yogurt. With resignation Speedy pulled out the chicken nuggets. Mas wasn't going to eat them anyway.

He closed the fridge, turned on a heel and nearly jumped out of his own skin. Funny. Speedy didn't recall hearing anyone sneak up behind him, far be it the less-than-stealthy Aqualad.

"I thought you were incapacitated?" Speedy gave the other a hairy once-over from behind his mask. From what Bumblebee had been saying it sounded like the Atlantean had been dying, but here he looked fine. Way to over exaggerate things.

The dark-eyed boy's thin lips slowly curled into a tight smile. "Was."

His inhuman physique had bestowed Aqualad with strength far beyond that of any human, so it was a simple matter of slamming Speedy into the refrigerator and pinning him there.

Speedy's head thumped against the surface painfully. Irritated, he was about to let fly some choice words at his ex boyfriend but his mouth was suddenly occupied. Seemed his tongue had taken on a mind of its own and wanted to get reacquainted with Garth's. That moment didn't last long before the redhead gathered the necessary strength to force the Atlantean off him. Lips untangled, he was able to immediately begin his rant.

"The fuck is wrong with you? Christ, Bumblebee things you're on your goddamn deathbed, but that's not the problem. You've just lost your mind!"

"Something like that."

"… What?" Roy shook his head at Garth chidingly, "Get a grip already, you lunatic!"

"That's why you want to make me jealous?" teased the newly sly Aqualad. Something in his tone began to signal some red flags. "That's why you brought that girl here from the club, then? Slept with her in the room right next to mine. What? Thought it would infuriate me?"

The former prince of Atlantis' eyes narrowed menacingly. It was a trait that Speedy had never seen in his teammate before, ever. Not even when he was at his angriest. But Speedy wouldn't let himself be caught off guard.

"I brought her home because I wanted to," he sneered.

"So you just made a point of making sure I would hear it because you're a sadist?"

"Or maybe it was just because I hadn't had anyone worthwhile since hooking up with you," retorted the archer smugly. This did not have the effect he'd intended, however, as Aqualad's display of fine, perfect teeth only widen.

Then Speedy picked up on it. Garth would have been devastated by this sort of conflict. Right now he only seemed amused. Something was seriously wrong here.

Garth's fist was fast, but not so much that Roy couldn't avoid it. The dexterous archer ducked a second swing from the other clenched fist. All it would take was one good shot and Aqualad would have him out cold, easily. Lucky for Speedy, evasion and putting distance between himself and foes was second nature. A few agile bounds and the two were separated by a few feet. Roy couldn't get over that grin Aqualad was showing off. It reminded him of another ex of his, but Jade was a memory that was too distracting to bring up at the moment. He had to focus.

Aqualad wasn't even fighting like himself. Normally a quick thinker and tactical, he should have predicted one of Speedy's mastered maneuvers: a drop kick threw the Atlantean off his center of gravity, taking out an experienced fighter that normally would have easily dodged it.

Speedy hadn't kicked him that hard but it was enough to send the marine warrior tumbling backwards. Like slow motion, Speedy watched as Aqualad fell unnaturally slowly, clipping his head on the countertop. With a grunt at the pain the Atlantean landed on the floor, stunned. A smear of blood glistened on the counter.

"Oh, shit," Roy swore to himself. He got to his feet instantly and ran to his teammate's side. "Fuck, are you okay, you lunatic?"

Aqualad had slumped to the floor in a mess of hair and limbs. He was conscious but only just barely. Speedy moved him so that he could examine the head wound.

"Roy…" gasped the victim, "…Roy, help…"

"It's okay. Just a little concussion, I swear. You'll be fine," he tried to sound reassuring, but Aqualad shook his head violently. He looked utterly panicked. This scared Speedy because that confident, almost-deviant Aqualad that he had been ten minutes ago had been completely replaced, and this version of the Atlantean seemed to be the more accurate version.

The archer made a quick decision to try and move Aqualad by picking him up as gently as possible and setting him on a sitting position on the counter. Not only was the brunette panicking, but he was beginning to hyperventilate. Speedy briefly wondered how a creature with lungs and gills could not be getting enough air.

"Look at me, Fish Boy," Speedy tried to commandeer Aqualad's frayed attention, "Look at me! You need to regulate your breathing. Come on, take a deep breath. Just breathe."

For some reason or another this was beyond Aqualad's ability: he couldn't calm down at all. His eyes, the dark voids that they always were, were shot with total horror, invoking a wonder if maybe the concussion wasn't the only thing wrong with him.

"Garth, you need to tell me what happened. I can't help if you don't tell me what's going-"

"No!" screamed the Atlantean sharply. Speedy jumped. "Get away from me! Get back!"

"Talk to me!" he attempted to get some handle on Aqualad's attention, but the wide-eyed Titan was too far gone in his hysteria to be drawn out.

Then something clicked in Garth's mind, and fortunately Speedy caught it not long after: a nearby knife rack had suddenly announced its presence in the kitchen with utter silence. At just the same moment the two teenagers saw it, took split seconds to think about it, and then darted for it in order to beat the other. Aqualad was a fraction of an inch closer to the rack, though, and he was able to snatch one of the blade handles before Speedy was able to stop him. This did nothing to deter the archer from trying to pull the silvery blade away though.

The Atlantean was the stronger of the two, without a doubt. The only reason Speedy was able to yank the struggling brunette to the floor was because he'd lost his balance on the counter and slipped. Speedy was on top of him in a flash of red, using the strength of both his arms to try and subdue Garth's knife-wielding one. The redhead was fighting a losing battle. He needed help.

He chanced sparing a hand to activate his communicator, clicking the power screen on with familiarity. "Bumblebee! Kitchen, now!"

Jesus, he hadn't foreseen any of this bullshit ten minutes ago.

Luckily for Speedy, Bumblebee was the fastest Easterner while in flight. Plus she had already been pretty close to the common room, anyway. The door opened, revealing the black-and-yellow uniformed figure with a heavy blanket in her arms. Also good for Speedy: she was the type to act first, ask questions later. She darted towards the scuffling Titans, dropping the blanket in the process, and took hold of Aqualad. This gave Speedy a chance to go for the weapon he'd had his eye on the entire time.

God, Garth had a good grip. Speedy tried to pry the Atlantean's fingers off the handle one at a time with little success as Bumblebee wrestled him to the floor, twisting Aqualad's arm behind his back. Throughout the entire episode the boy had tears streaming down his face and was yelling an endless string of "No! No! Get off! Let me go!"

Bumblebee was having a difficult enough time just trying to keep Aqualad down on the ground. It was with rising frustration did she snap, "Get that knife away from him today, Speedy!"

"I'm tryng," he grunted in response, "But I can't… Fuck it." With all other options exhausted Speedy resorted to the last ditch effort to loosen Aqualad's grip: he leaned down and bit on his ex's hand with all the force his jaw could muster. Aqualad refused to relinquish the weapon for a few seconds, trying to ignore the feeling of Speedy's spit mingling with his own blood as it ran down the length of his hand, trickling to his wrist. Finally he couldn't bear it anymore and he had to let go. Without thinking the archer snatched the blade and chucked it across the room, far out of reach.

With the object of the scuffle discarded Aqualad seemed to just give up. He fell slack against his friends and ceased struggling. As he sobbed beneath them Speedy and Bumblebee gave one another the same baffled, frightened glance.