"Booyah! Admit it, BB. I got ya pawned…again!"
"It was a fluke, 'kay! A fluke!"
One Raven Roth smirked at her companions' antics, allowing herself a little more leeway after a particularly trying day.
There had been Mumbo, attempting to rob a bank.
Robin had had another Slade-induced panic attack.
The Mark of Scath, that had turned out to be a-
beep
Raven frowned, rubbing her temples angrily at the-
beep
She winced at the strange-
beep
That sound, that-
beep
The hell-
beep
dark-
beep
beep
bee-
"She's coming round! Vitals up!"
beep
"Get the shot ready, come on!"
beep
"Come on kid, work with us!"
"Her heart rates slowing- get the paddles, quick!"
beep
"Okay, let's do this nice and easy…"
"Wait-wait! Too early!"
"Come on, come on!"
"Use the paddles already!"
beep
"Heart's still up...keep the paddles by."
"It's been too long. She's gonna die!"
"No, no- just wait-wait a second, just to see"
"She's out cold now! Vitals failing."
"Set her back up, come on- kid can't die on my watch!"
"ready…CLEAR!"
b-be-beep
"Alright, good to go. Stand by!"
beep
"She's good!"
beep
"Okay kid, you can make it…"
beep
"Got the shot?"
beep
"Okay, stick the needle in nice and easy…watch the vein…"
beep…
A blur. Shifting, modulating masses moving gently, floating across the ground.
Blink.
A face, next to hers…
"Mum? You're dead, right? I'm dead, then? Why aren't we in hell? What's going on?"
A hand caressing her cheek, cold and impassive.
"Mum, what's happening? Wh-where am I? Where's Robin, Star, BB, Cy…"
"Who?"
The voice is sharp, staccato and pinched.
Another voice, soft and humming and whispering over the surface of her skin.
"Rachel-you're Rachel Roth. Now, you've been in a coma…Do you know who I am?..I'm your doctor, remember me? Sarah Simms?"
Her head nods on its own accord, her chin hitting the neck brace wrapped tightly about her throat.
"Okay, now honey, I need you to listen to me…You were in a car accident 2 weeks ago, alright?..."
"B-but Trigon and Slade…Don't you see?! They're after me…I know it! You've got to let me out, I don't know you, I don't care to know you, I don't want to use my powers, see?!"
She holds out a fistful of air, of nothingness but the sterile scent of the hospital bed.
"Now listen dear..you've got to relax…you hurt your neck, but you'll be okay soon. Your father will be right over, alright? Don't worry, you're going ho-"
She thrashes, ripping at the foreign translucent ribbons floating beneath her skin, tugging at the restraints.
"No. No you can't. You can't let him in here! No! No! I want my friends! I wan- I NEED my friends, okay? They'll get me out of here!"
"Of-of course…just…stop…moving…What are their numbers?..."
"You don't know their number? Bitch, I know you know it. Titans' Tower see? Jump City? Teen Titans? Yeah, you know them!"
beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep
The soft melodic voice becomes a shattered bottle as Rachel Roth pulls harder at the bed, the Velcro tabs on her plastic brace giving way with a shhnicc. She goes rag-doll limp.
beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep
"Hey! Hey! Get a sedative in here! Now, now! Come on, honey…you gotta get up. Mrs. Roth?! Mrs. Roth?! I need you to leave! Okay Rachel, stay with me, come on honey, stay with me… I need the paddles! Come on, come on!"
Rachel Roth's eyes are soft and wide, her mouth just as much so.
"But…Trigon…get Nightwing…so vivid…they're…real…"
beep
beep
beep.
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If I get enough complaints about a vague unfulfilling plot, then listen. I'll post what it's implying, but that's it, because guess what? I don't. Fricken. Care. Its supposed to be vague. Its supposed to leave you unfulfilled. Its supposed to leave you annoyed and pissed and planning to hack my account to see if you can find out where I live so you can all jump me. So chill. But if you flame, don't just say "Stop writing you F-ing moron! You don't know how to be an author! Get off this site!". Because seriously honey, it don't do squat. Give me constructive critiscm. Don't tell me what a B**** I am because I already know! Fancy that. As the FanFic author Absentia put it (Great writer): "Compare and contrast and submit it in essay format". Something like that. But please comment, because it's annoying to check my story traffic.