Fan Fiction ❯ Putting The Peices Back Together ❯ Smoke and Mirrors ( Chapter 6 )

Terra smiled nervously as Robin continued to stare at her, never blinking once. "Um, Robbo? You gonna be alright?"

"T…Terra. It's…you!"

Raven rested her face in her hand. "Brilliant deduction, my love."

Robin shook his head and tried to regain his composure. "Terra. I…it's just such a shock to see you. How did you…"

"Wake up from the big dirt-nap?"

Robin nodded.

Terra smiled. "Actually, I've got this sexy-mama here to thank for it." She playfully nudged Raven in the gut with her elbow.

Robin turned to his wife in surprise. "Really?"

Nodding, Raven said. "STAR labs went to work on Terra right away, trying to find some way to bring her back to life. The first thing they tried was physically turning the rock back into flesh and blood, so they brought in the usual cast of matter-converters, Firestorm, Metamorpho, and even his counter-part Shift. Of course, nothing worked. Terra barely understood her powers herself; I'm not sure how they were expecting anyone else to figure it out. Anyway, we had been so busy with our own stuff that we never really focused our time or energy on Terra." A twinge of guilt could be heard in Raven's voice, but the blonde girl only grinned. Terra said nothing, but smiled at Raven with a look that said `Go on.'

"Like I said," Raven continued, "we never really worked on bringing Terra back; STAR labs were always the ones doing everything they could. Then, early last year, they made an announcement saying that they were giving up. When I heard that…" Raven looked down at the ground. "I felt terrible. We should have been working with STAR labs to bring her back; instead we just stood idly by."

Terra sighed. "You know Rae; you sure do know how to ruin a perfectly happy story with all your unnecessary guilt. So Bats, here's the non-depressing cliff-notes version. Raven went to STAR labs and told them that she had been able to contact my spiritual consciousness with her powers. Once they heard that, they agreed to give it one more shot. Since they couldn't change me back themselves, the idea was that maybe if they could get a strong enough connection to my mind, I could do it myself. It was SWEET! They brought in Dr. Fate and the Martian Manhunter!! Fate used his magic to enhance Raven's own, and the Manhunter used his powers to strengthen the psychic bond." Terra beamed. "It's not everyday you get to come back to life AND meet two of the Justice League's big guns!!"

Raven frowned. "Terra…how can you be so happy about it? Don't you get it? If I hadn't been so negligent…if I hadn't been so uncaring, we would have been able to bring you back years ago!"

Terra wrapped Raven in a hug and patted her back in an attempt to calm her down. Smiling softly, she said with a quiet voice. "This is about Gar…isn't it?"

Raven turned away from her friend. "I keep thinking about it. If…if you had been around before he left…maybe…maybe things would have turned out differently."

"Rae, I know this is hard for you, but you're going to have to stop blaming yourself. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have come back at all."

As the two girls comforted each other, Robin just stared in amazement. Could this really be the same two people who once nearly tore each other apart in a fight to the death in that mud-filled warehouse?

Terra gave Raven another reassuring smile. "I miss Gar every day, Rae. He was my first love and I'll never forget him." Brushing the hair away from Raven's face, Terra said, "You know, I've never been much of a religious person. But still…I thank God every day for you, Raven. For giving me this second lease on life…even after all those things I did to you. All those things I said…" Terra wiped a tear from her eye as her grin returned. "But don't be sad for Beast Boy. He's in a better place now. And look at me, Rae! I'm doing great! I've got a new guy now, and he seems to be working out just fine. …even if he is half-machine."

Robin blinked. "WHAT??"

Blushing, Terra replied, "Yeah. Me and Cyborg hooked up not too long ago. It took us forever just to talk about our feelings."

"Yeah…" Cyborg added. "We were both feeling pretty guilty. It was still so soon after Gar left us…"

Growling, Terra lightly kicked Cyborg in his robotic shin. "This moron went so nuts he almost wiped his brain clean of all his feelings and emotions! I had to TALK HIM OUT OF IT!" She kicked him several more times.

"Ow! Hey! Cut that - ow! - OUT!"

Robin laughed. For the second time that day, he finally felt like he was truly at home.

It was at that moment that Speedy entered the room. "Hey Babs, you realize both your back tires are flat? I was just down in the garage. I went down there to go and chit-chat with your driver, but I guess he went out to lunch or something."

Barbara nodded. "I gave him some cash and said to get a hotel room in the city for the night. He'll be back in the morning. Wait. Did you say my back tires are flat?!"

"Yeah, nasty puncture on both of them."

"Dammit."

"No worries though. Cyborg will fix you right up, eh Vic?"

"Aw yeah," crowed Cyborg, delighted at the chance to work on a new car. "Just lead the way, little-lady." Barbara wheeled herself out of the common room with Cyborg closely in tow.

As they left, Robin turned to Speedy. "Both her back tires were flat?"

"Yeah," Speedy replied, as he took an arrow out from his quiver to inspect it. "Dulled one of my good arrows to do it, too. Damn thick tires."

Terra snorted out a laugh, but Raven only glared. "Roy, why the hell did you pop Barbara's tires?"

Speedy smiled. "I just wanted to give the four of us some time to bond, Rae. I figure, with Cyborg down there, he'll find about a thousand other things he'll want to tweak on her car, so we should have the room to ourselves for at least another hour or so."

Raven flashed him another suspicious look. "What are you up to, Roy?"

"Nothing! Look, do you think you could go to the kitchen and grab us some snacks?"

"Uh, no."

"Come on, Rae. Please?"

Sighing, she said, "Fine." Turning once more to give Roy another questioning glance, Raven walked off towards the kitchen.

"So Roy…" Terra said, "What are you up to?"

Speedy smiled a wicked grin as he reached into his pocket. "You see guys, today's a celebration! After today, Roy Harper is a hundred percent clean. No more drugs. Period."

Smiling warmly, Terra said, "That's great, Roy. Good for you."

Robin's eyes went wide. "DRUGS?!"

Speedy chuckled as he remembered that no one had filled Robin in yet on his previous addiction. "Chill, Bats. It's just some buds. See, this quarter-O is the last of it, and I didn't want it to go to waste. I don't need to smoke this stuff to keep my arms steady anymore; I took care of that this morning. And…well…you know, I didn't want this to go to waste or anything…so I thought maybe the four of us could finish it off…"

"WHAT?!"

"Relax, Dick. You smoke with me and Terra all the time, right T?"

Bewildered, Terra looked at Roy. "Huh?" Then it dawned on her. "Oh! Oh yeah," she said with an evil grin on her face. "All the time."

As she was using her powers to gather sandwiches and crackers in the kitchen, Raven's flow of thought was interrupted by the sound of Robin practically coughing up a lung. `What the hell?' she thought.

Raven slapped herself in the forehead when she saw the scene that greeted her. Robin and Speedy grinned at her like idiots while Terra had her mouth planted securely against a large bong. Rolling her eyes, Raven groaned, "Not again…"

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"Hahahaha! You've GOT to be kidding me! Are you serious??"

Terra beamed at Robin's laughter. "As serious as a certain purple-haired sorceress we happen to know."

Raven rolled her eyes and looked to Robin for support, but he was still caught in a fit of laughter.

"So…the general public actually believes you're-"

"A genetic clone sent from the future."

Robin, Terra, and Speedy erupted into hysterics again as Raven just sulked.

"Well…we had to tell them something. Terra publicly seized the whole city once, every resident of Jump knows her face, and we had to give them some story so they wouldn't treat her like a terrorist or something."

Robin raised an eyebrow at the beautiful woman he married. "And how exactly did `genetic clone sent from the future' become the story you decided to give them?"

"Well," Terra started, "actually it was Cyborg's idea. He said it's what…" her voice started to crack a bit, "He said it's what Beast Boy would have suggested. So…we kinda just went with it."

Robin nodded silently as he thought back to all those times the Titans had a mystery to solve, and Beast Boy had rattled-off his far-fetched and seemingly idiotic scenarios. Back then, they used to roll their eyes at him, and write him off as a fool. Now, Robin realized just how much he missed Beast Boy and his light-hearted view of the world.

Raven's gaze moved from Robin to Speedy who had promptly packed another bowl into the bong and began to light it. "I can't believe you two actually tricked my husband into doing drugs with you! How could you guys? You know Richard's always been clean. Roy, I blame one-hundred percent of this on you. How could you take advantage of your friend like this? You know he has amnesia, I just…I can't believe you'd do this. How many times am I going to have to say this to you, Roy? We're super heroes. We don't smoke pot."

With a sheepish look on her face, Terra raised her hand grade-school style and said "Uh…actually, I'm not. I'm just a meta-human civilian, so…"

"Yeah…" Robin started, "I've been meaning to ask about that-"

"Hold on, Dick." Speedy interrupted, "Me and Rae need to have a talk here. Look Raven, this is the second time today that you've given me this "We're super heroes, we don't do drugs" speech, and to tell you the truth, I don't buy it. We are super heroes Rae, but what does that mean? Does it mean that we're somehow better than the people we save? I sure as hell don't think so. We're not gods, Raven. We're not above anyone, just because we put on the costumes and capes and run around saving people and fighting bad guys. Take that away from us, and at the end of the day, we're still just people. The day we put ourselves above the people we dedicate ourselves to protect is the day we lose sight of who we are. We're people first, Rae. Super heroes second." Roy sighed, "Now look, I'm sorry for tricking Dick into smoking with Terra and me, I'll admit, it wasn't the most mature thing to do…and it wasn't the most ethic thing to do…but think about it, Rae. The guy just woke up yesterday to find out he's lost out on ten years of his whole damn life. That's a big, friggin deal! If I woke up, only to find my dad was murdered by a man I thought was dead, and that my hand was forced to kill my own friend, well, I'd do a lot more than just smoke some pot, I'll tell you that much. The guy lost everything, Rae. I figured the least I could do for him was ease his nerves a bit. I know there are a lot of better ways I could have done that, but frankly, I am who I am, and I did it the only way Roy Harper ever would."

The slightly awkward moment of silence that followed Speedy's speech was broken by, "You're wrong, Roy."

Speedy turned his head in surprise. The rebuttal hadn't come from Raven as he expected, but rather from Robin.

"Excuse me?"

"I said you're wrong. I didn't lose everything when I woke up in that hospital room, Roy. I may have lost a lot, but there was one thing I gained from all this."

"What's that?"

Robin smiled. "A wife. And a love that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Even my seemingly `perfect' past."

Speedy grinned as he patted Robin on the shoulder. "That's why you're my boy, Bats."

As the conversation started up again, and the tension died down, Raven relaxed herself and sat down, cuddling up to Robin once more. Although she wasn't about to admit it out loud, Speedy's words had struck home with her, and as she held Robin closer, she could feel her anger taking its leave.

"So Dick," Terra said, "before Roy went all `un-holier than thou' on Rae, were you gonna ask me something?"

"Yeah." Robin turned to face Terra. "I was wondering…Terra, why aren't you a Titan anymore?"

Terra gave her friend a slightly sad half-smile. "I think we both know the answer to that one, Bats."

"Bullshit, Terra. You made a mistake, if there's anyone who knows about making mistakes when it comes to Slade, it's me. Look, I'll be straight with you Terra; you did some terrible things…" Robin paused to look at his friends around him. His wife, the formerly unstable daughter of a demon. Speedy, the rehabilitated heroin junkie. "But really, if this team has anything to stand by, its redemption and forgiveness. Be a Titan again, Terra. You don't have to prove yourself to us. We already forgive you."

Raven let out a small gasp. "Oh my god…"

"Whoa." Roy added in agreement.

Bewildered, Robin looked up at his friends. "What?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, Terra said in a soft voice, "That's exactly what you said to me when I first came back. Word for word. Look Dick, you guys may have forgiven me, although why I'll never know, but the thing is…I still haven't forgiven myself." A forlorn look fell upon her face as she stared off into nothingness. "Sometimes I wish I really were a genetic clone from the future. Maybe then I would have an easier time living with myself. I feel sick to my stomach when I think about all the things I did to you guys. And then to find out that after all that, you still cared about me enough to bring me back? I don't deserve to be a Titan, Dick. I was never cut out to be on this team and you know it." Her smile slowly returned. "But that doesn't mean that I won't be your friend."

Robin smiled. "I guess that'll have to do. For now…"

"So Bats, did the doctor say how long you're going to have your amnesia for?" Terra asked suddenly.

Robin blinked. "No, he said he wasn't sure." Suddenly a warning light went off in Robin's brain as he realized something he hadn't thought of before. "Oh my god!"

"What?"

"That doctor! He…he saw my face! He knew my name! My real name! HE KNOWS WHO I AM!!"

There was a pause before Raven, Speedy, and Terra broke out in hysteric laughter.

"You guys think this is FUNNY?!"

Raven chuckled. "Relax, honey. That doctor was Pieter Cross. That name ring any bells?"

"No. Should it?"

Grinning, Roy said, "Well, he goes by another name too. `Doctor Mid-Nite', maybe you've heard of him?"

"…No way…"

Roy barked out a laugh. "Way. Mid-Nite's in the League. He's one of us. We mask and cape types gotta take care of our own when it comes to stuff like this."

"Yeah," Raven added, "didn't you think it was weird that there was an owl in a birdcage in the waiting room?"

Robin shrugged. "I don't know, I guess. I've been to lots of dentist offices that have fish tanks…"

"Well," Roy said as he started to get up off the couch, "since you two are off to Gotham tomorrow, I think I'd better go put out the call to a couple of the reserve members. Don't want our ranks to be too thin while you're gone."

Raven nodded. "Who are you calling in?"

"I was thinking Joto and Charlie."

Scoffing, Raven said. "Charlie? Good luck with that. Unless you've got a paycheck attached to that phone call, I doubt Charlie will be that eager to answer."

Roy sighed. "Tell me about it."

Robin turned to Raven. "Who's Charlie?"

"The Golden Eagle."

"Who?"

"Nevermind."

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As she sat at her dresser in the dimly-lit room, Starfire stared into her mirror, fascinated and repulsed at the same time at the person who stared back. "Who are you?" she asked her reflection. For the first time in a long time, the cheerful Tameranian just didn't feel like herself. Ever since the previous night, Star had been confused and depressed. The problem was, she wasn't quite sure why.

No. That was a lie. When she stopped hiding from the truth, Starfire knew exactly what was bothering her.

"X'hal! Why…why did he have to kiss me…?" For the first time in years, Starfire found herself thinking about Robin, and about the relationship they once shared. Regardless of how things turned out, Robin was her first love, the first boy to ever give her butterflies in her stomach, the first boy to ever make her blush uncontrollably with just a smile and a touch. He was her first kiss, her first date, and also, her first heart-break.

It was much longer than a year after the happy couple had first gotten together. A new villain had appeared, and Robin had dedicated himself to bringing him down. The man wore a blue mask and called himself "The Ravager". What caught the attention of the Titans, however, and more specifically Robin, was the fact that the Ravager claimed to be the son of Slade.

After their first encounter, Robin locked himself in his lab, running test after test. He had to know for sure if this villain was really the son of his greatest enemy. The first test results came out negative. Starfire was delighted.

"This means that he was false? That he was in fact, not Slade's offspring? Wonderful! Now we may spend our time together again, yes, Robin?"

"I'm sorry Star, but one test just isn't enough. I have to know for sure. I…I'm sorry. We'll spend some time together later, ok?"

"…ok."

The second test results came back negative. And the third, and the fourth. By the time that Robin realized the Ravager had no blood connection to Slade, Starfire was getting near the end of her rope.

"I do not understand, Robin! This…'Ravager', he is in jail, and you have run dozens of tests all telling you that he was not related to Slade! Why do you persist?"

"Because he knew about us, Star. He knew about Slade. He knew things that he shouldn't have known, and I need to find out how."

"But…it has been so long since we have partaken in a `dinner and movie' night, it has been so long since last you held me. I miss you, Robin."

Robin sighed as he held her hands in his. "I miss you too, Star. But right now, I need to concentrate on my work. This is important."

"…more important than me?" Starfire asked in a soft, sad voice. But Robin gave her no answer; instead he turned and retreated back into his room, leaving his girlfriend in tears outside his door.

`Why can't she understand?' Robin thought. `She knows how much my work means to me, but she shouldn't be getting so upset. She knows I love her.' A chill ran up Robin's spine as he came to a startling epiphany. `No…no…that's not true…is it? If I really loved Star, then nothing could keep me from her now. God, she's out there probably crying because of me and I'm in here trying to victimize myself. This isn't how it's supposed to be…she's my girlfriend…I…I'm supposed to be in love with her…' Robin collapsed into his chair. `So then why aren't I?'

The next day, Robin decided he would try and tell Star how he felt. He would tell her that he was no longer in love with her.

"Robin?"

"Oh. Hey Star, I was, uh, just looking for you. Can we talk?"

"Yes, Robin. I was also looking for you, we indeed need to talk."

"Ok. You first."

Starfire took a deep breath in, and then, in a calm and controlled voice, she said, "Dearest Robin, I do not believe that we should remain partners in intimacy any longer. I am sorry, but I cannot love you if you will not love me in return. When I first met you, Robin, you were filled with such enthusiasm and boyish joy. It was that boy that I fell in love with Robin, not the one who locks himself away from those who only wish to make him feel loved. I am truly sorry, although sincerely hope that we may remain friends. I am not sure what I would do without you in my life, Robin."

Bewildered, Robin just nodded. He tried to make words come out of his mouth, but nothing happened. In reaction to his silence, Starfire lowered her heard and turned to walk away, but he caught her by the shoulder and forced out the words "Of course we'll still be friends, Star. I don't know what I'd do without you either."

In the months that followed their break up, Starfire tried dating again, but to no avail. She saw Aqualad for a few weeks, but even that ended up not working out. It was a little over a year after her break up with Robin that Starfire realized she had made a terrible mistake. Robin may have hurt her, but he had also done many wonderful things for her in the short time that they were together. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that when she and Robin were together, she was far happier than she had been in a long time. It was then that Star realized she still loved Robin and it was then that she vowed to get him back. But then, as fate would have it, it was then that Robin and Raven expressed their feelings for each other and finally got together.

Star was crushed when she learned that Robin and Raven were together, but she was truly devastated when she saw how much in love they were. The way Robin looked at Raven, the way she made him smile, it was the way Star always wished he would look and smile at her back when they were together, although he never did.

Star couldn't understand what it was about Robin that made her love him so much. Next to Raven, Robin was the second most `dark and brooding' member of the team, even the simplest of logic told her that she had very little in common with the Boy Wonder, yet at the same time, they seemed to match so well.

As the years went by, Starfire was finally able to get over her loss of Robin, and she was even able to feel genuine joy for him and Raven. However, Star was convinced that she would never love again. That was of course, until Speedy joined the Titans.

Roy was everything Starfire loved about Robin, but with something more. He had a certain flare to him, a unique light-hearted look on life, regardless of the pain and struggles he suffered because of his addiction. Roy was able to give Starfire something that Robin was not. He gave her cheerfulness, and joy. He always greeted her with a grin, and made her laugh with his jokes. He knew how to take his work seriously, but he never checked his feelings at the door, like Robin did.

It was for those reasons that Roy and Starfire made such a good couple, and that was why Star now felt so guilty. She loved Roy, and she loved the relationship she shared with him. But when Robin kissed her…he was not the Robin who once shunned her away and refused her his love. He was the Robin she knew so long ago, and that was why his kiss made such an impact on her. Sighing, Star took another look into her mirror and said to herself, "X'hal, what a fool I am. I have locked myself away from my friends because of the guilt I feel over the feelings caused by Robin's kiss. Sitting in here by myself will do nothing to make me feel better. The only thing that shall be able to make me feel better now is love, and the only person capable of giving that to me…is Roy."

Smiling for the first time in days, Starfire took one last glance at herself in her mirror. The cheerful young woman filled with joy and compassion that glanced back at her was now very familiar. "Hello, Starfire." She said to herself. "It is good to have you back."

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Interlude

It was a rainy afternoon in Keystone City as a blue Impala pulled into the cemetery parking lot. As he killed the engine, Joto Crockett sulked at the thick, gray rain around him. Joto hated going out in the rain, it always made people stare. A part of him wanted to just turn the ignition back on and pull right out of that parking lot. But that was a shallow and petty part of him, and his heart would not allow it. Not on this day.

As he stepped out of the car, the rain instantly sizzled upon impact with his body and turned to steam. Ignoring the stares of the other mourners, Joto ventured on to a part of the cemetery he had gotten to know all too well. He was twenty-five now, and had been coming here every year since he was fourteen.

Coming to a stop, Joto sighed as he gazed at the two headstones in front of him. "Hey mom. Hey dad. It's been awhile."

When he was younger, people said Joto had it `lucky'. Despite being of African descent, and growing up in a gang-filled city like Keystone, he avoided the stereotypes and statistics. Joto lived a good life. His father was a judge, and his mother was a stay-at-home mom. They lived in a nice, two-story town-house on the "good" side of town. Growing up, Joto never dealt with drugs or gang violence, his biggest worry was making his parents proud of him. He meant the world to them, and even before he was born, his parents knew he was going to be special.

When Mrs. Crockett was 5 months pregnant, she started to notice a strange, warm feeling coming from inside her. X-rays and thermo-scans showed that it was nothing to worry about, just that the child inside her was giving off an abnormally high amount of body heat. It was because of this that Danielle Crockett named her son Joto, which was `heat' in her native tongue of Swahili.

As he grew older, Joto excelled in academics as well as sports, but it was the former that his father cared most about. But Judge Crockett never cracked down on his son, nor did he ever punish him when his grades slipped. He just encouraged Joto to do better and said "I know you, Joto. You're capable of so much. Live up to your potential, son. You'll do great things when you do."

It was those words that echoed in Joto's head as he ran home from school that day. He had just received his first high school report card and couldn't wait to show his father his 4.0. However, since his father wasn't home yet, it was his mother that greeted him at the door. Beaming, Joto proudly held up his report card as his mother drew him in for a hug.

And then…everything that Joto knew and held dear to him came crashing down. By some cruel twist of fate, it was at that exact moment that something inside Joto's body awoke. Something that had been there from the beginning. Something that had been lying dormant. That `something', was Joto's meta-human powers. As his mother hugged him, Joto's skin began to steam, as if something were causing his sweat to evaporate at an alarming rate. Then, the unthinkable happened. His entire body shuddered as he released wave after wave of pure heat from every nook, every cranny, and every pore in his skin. Mrs. Crockett didn't stand a chance.

Everything around them started to melt, but Joto could do nothing to stop it. A look of absolute horror on his face, Joto could do nothing as he watched his mother die in front of him. Then, when things couldn't possibly get any worse…they did. The door opened behind him, and Joto's father walked in. Taken aback by the horrific scene before him, Judge Crockett's initial response was to try and save his son. If only he had known that Joto was somehow immune to his own heat, if only he had known that the surge of power was about to die down, then maybe, just maybe he would have survived. But when it came to his son, nothing on earth could stop Michael Crocket from trying to save him, and it was because of that love, that he perished as well.

Horrified by what he had become, and by what he had done, Joto ran. It wasn't long before his powers acted up again, but this time, it happened around another resident of Keystone. Wally West. The Flash. After seeing what Joto was capable of, Flash immediately took him to STAR labs. It was there that Joto was outfitted with his containment suit. When he was given the `ok' to leave, the Flash asked him, "So what are you gonna do now, kid?"

Once when Joto was young, he had asked his father why he did what he did. He asked why he was a judge. His father only smiled at him and replied, "Because I was given a chance to help people, my boy, and there is no greater honor in life, than to know that you have saved one."

So when the Flash asked Joto that question, it was with no hesitation that he answered, "I'm going to protect."

"Protect who, kid?"

"Everyone."

After saying his `I love you's and his `I'm sorry's, Joto walked back to his car and got in. As he was driving away, he heard a catchy tone coming from inside his glove compartment. He reached inside and pulled out a round, yellow device. As he flicked it on, Speedy's face appeared in the screen.

"Hey Joto! How's it going, bro?"

"Hey Roy. It's going alright; I was just…visiting my parents."

Speedy's bright smile faded. "Oh jeez. I forgot, it's August 12th, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Look, I'm sorry man. If this is a bad time, I can just call someone else."

"Don't be stupid, Roy. I didn't agree to be on the Titan's reserve list for nothing. What's up?"

"Well, see, Batman and Raven are leaving for Gotham tomorrow, and from the way things are looking, they'll be gone a couple of weeks at the least. With our leader and resident magical-powerhouse gone for that long it leaves the Titans pretty short-handed. So I was just calling to see if you'd be down with filling in for them while they're gone. So whaddya' say, Hotspot?"

Looking up from his communicator, Hotspot glanced at his reflection in his rear-view mirror. When he saw his face, glowing red and orange, Joto didn't see a freak or misfit. He saw someone who was given a chance. Hotspot looked back down at his screen and smiled at Roy. "I say, let's save some lives."

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