His breath was ragged and rang in his ears in time with his fast, hard heartbeat. He gripped his sword tighter, holding his stance and darting his eyes rapidly back and forth. Fifteen of his attackers were downed already, and the rest held a perimeter just beyond the bodies of their fallen. He held up his weapon, ready to fight until his last, but then a voice came from the dark, a sinister cold voice.
"Enough."
The boy woke with a start. His hand instinctively flew to the wooden handle by his side, then dropped, the events of the last few days falling into place. He looked around slowly, taking in the room.
It was fairly plain. A large picture window that served as a wall took up the northern part of the room. Sitting in front of it was a large sofa and a computer sat in the far corner. The bed itself was a standard mattress/ box spring/ frame setup, with white sheets and a light blanket on top. The only color came from the pale blue white light streaming in from outside.
The boy fell back, letting the light and memory wash over him. The tower, he thought. He was in Titans Tower, in the room they gave him. He turned his head, looking at the communicator on the bedside table, and the weapon leaning against the wall between the table and his bed. His bed. His room. His new home. It was a strange thing, to have been traveling for so long, and now to be in one place for this long...
He rolled over, his mind still racing. Finally, after trying to sleep once more the boy got up and made his way to the main room, which housed not only a living area, but a small kitchen with a bar, and a dining area. As he sat down and stared out the window, he felt a presence come in behind him. As he turned to see who it was, the newcomer sat on the large, circular sofa, not quite at the opposite end.
"Feeling better?" asked Robin, leader of the group of teens. "You gave up a pretty good scare today."
The other boy nodded, went to speak, but stopped short. He didn't want to have another episode like the one he had earlier that day.
He had been lucky that the others were there. Had something happened while he was alone, he surely would have died. The boy shuddered at the thought, and continued to stare out the windows at the sleeping city that lie just beyond the island they were on.
They spent a few moments staring out at the twinkling city lights, then Robin began again.
"Can I ask you something?"
The other boy nodded, and the question that came was half expected.
"Why didn't you take the other room? I have no problem with you having the one you picked, but why did you refuse it so strongly?"
The other boy reached up and pulled a pad of paper and a pen from around his neck. The quickly scrawled reply caught the boy wonder off guard. On the yellow sheet was a single sentence that made him stop and think back to the previous year, to a tragedy that he, let alone the others, especially Beast Boy, had yet to recover from.
The words that sent echoes through the tower without making a sound were so profound, that Robin almost shook with the sudden remembrance.
"Because it's still her room."