Hello everybody.

This is an experiment of sorts, I've written the short stories from the perspective of different characters, often retelling events from different perspectives. Feedback would be vastly welcome, as there is still more refinement needed on this technique. Instead of chapters, it is a series of short-stories, although there maybe a few multi-parters.

The Chronicles of Lloyd "Dead-Eye" Reilly
Spider Bite

Lloyd

The Blood is pumping in my ears. The sewers are dark, wet and generally unpleasant. The dark isn't a problem, I have several extra "senses" that aren't affected by light, neither is the fact that almost every intersection is the same doesn't bother me either. The scum we're chasing don't realise that they've been going in circles for the past twenty minutes.

I follow the two trails, one, a brown greasy trail belongs to Fang, a half-boy half-spider hoodlum. The other trail is a slimy pink kind of cloud and it belongs to Kitten, a teenage drama queen whose super-villain father actually gets himself arrested to escape her nagging.

At the next intersection they take a left turn.

Left at the next one. I send back to Raven and Robin.

Only Raven is able to reply, Robin doesn't posses telepathy, but his mediation as part of his martial arts regime makes his mind more sensitive to it.

Ok, How far away are they? Raven replies

Not far, hurry up or you guys will miss the fun. I call back to the Titans.

The trail gets stronger; they'd been resting, catching their breath. Then they'd started running. I can even hear the splashes made by their footsteps.

I sprint through the ankle high water around a corner; in time to sense the actual abdomen of Fang's spider half disappear down the far end of the tunnel. I run, this is the home straight. This could be my first arrest as Teen Titan.

This isn't my first mission; I've done a few with the titans. I've been a member for almost two weeks and it's been pretty active.

As I sprint down the tunnel I perceive a sudden drop, Fang's trail stays the same but Kitten looks like she jumped or was carried by her boyfriend. I don't need to worry, as well as telepathy and extra senses I have a strange, and sometimes dangerous physiology. Long leaps are quite easy.

Approaching the gap I pick up a little more speed. Before I go over the edge, my back leg pushes off the ground and I sail through the air and land on the far side, without slowing down.

Watch out for the gap ahead, Cyborg might need help. I inform the others.

The smell on this side is pretty bad, and it's starting to disrupt the scent. I think I should clear something up first; I'm not using normal eyesight now. I'm using my sense of smell, yep that's right smell, or in this case Smellevision. I can focus on the world around me through my nose, the world doesn't change, but I can actually see odours and any airborne chemicals, its weird and is probably the closest thing to LSD or magic mushrooms without taking drugs. Every scent has its own colour in Smellevision, it makes tracking someone through a crowd easier.

I round the corner of the tunnel. There's no footstep, either they've sped up, climbed out or they're waiting in ambush.

I reach for the holsters on the back of my belt. In those holsters are my two weapons of choice, a pair of laser pistols Cyborg had made, after Beast Boy snuck into my room and tried playing cowboy with my old pair of dart pistols my dad had made for me. Fortunately no one had been hurt or knocked out by the tranquillisers, except for Beast Boy, taking a ricochet in the butt.

I withdraw from Smellevision and enter the main sense I use for living, Omni-sense. It combines my extra senses, it shows my Thermal vision, my energy emission sense, which detects the emissions of energy from electrical sources, light sources, radiation and bioelectricity. Smellevision and finally psyche-sight, the ability to see peoples minds, it is almost impossible to describe to a non-psychic, the blurring colours, shifting shapes. What I see is a person, as they believe themselves to appear as at that moment, using this I can dive into their mind. Unlike more powerful telepaths, all I can do is simply watch through the person's eyes. Raven can also do this, but she is also able to look at their memories and influence their thoughts.

Up ahead, Kitten is leaning against a wall, peering down the tunnel, Fang is climbing up the sides and preparing to drop from the ceiling onto us the titans. The handguns make a faint humming noise, barely perceptible; I flick the safety catches and advance down the tunnel. The walls obscuring Kitten's and Fang's bodies in omni-sense are close enough for me to dive in. I manage to enter Fang's mind quickly, he's looking to Kitten, crouching against the wall, in her hand is some kind of weapon, and it looks like an energy weapon, but bulky and poorly constructed. She is peering down the tunnel, unable to see my silhouette

Kitten is armed with an outdated laser gun, it may overheat so watch out. I send to Robin

Wait up. It's still a trap, even if you can see it. We'll come and provide support. : Raven replies, concern radiates from the message.

Stupidly I ignore it and race down the tunnel, three quartes of the way there Kitten opens up with her weapon. The fire rate is quite low and the bolts of energy travel slowly. I return fire with both my pistols. The twin whines of my pistols competing with bark of her single gun. My fire rate is higher and my blasts of energy travel faster, I've got her pinned.

I've split my vision link between the two criminals.

I sprint from alcove to alcove while Kitten ducks behind the wall, she drops a magazine. Hmmm... small capacity I think to myself.

Fang is desperately pointing at the magazine, lying in the water, while Kitten fumbles trying to reload and pick up the dropped clip at the same time.

I charge forward before she can get back into position. She can probably hear my splashes; the waters' about halfway up my shins. Kitten prepares to pistol whip my head, but I'm ready for her, at the last second I kick off the ground and jump to the right, both of my pistols fire and she gest hit once in the chest and the other bolt smacks into the concrete wall. Fang tries to drop on me, but I've already rolled to the side and avoided his attack.

I rise from the floor with both guns blazing at the hybrid. He shrieks as the stun bolts whack into his abdomen from underneath.

Kitten is firing at me one of her blasts hits home on my right elbow and I drop the pistol in my right hand.

I get up from the one knee stance and punch as hard as I can at Fang's big blobby spider body, and fire at kitten with my left hand. Kitten pulls the trigger again, except her shots off this time and it hits one of Fang's spider legs, the leg buckles and Kitten screams 'Fangy Poo!'

Fang flicks his leg under his body to provide stability and hits me in the stomach. I drop my other pistol and hold my gut, trying to get my breath back.

Fang stabilises himself and picks me up with his human hands and two of his spider legs. He holds my limbs out and says 'Now I'll teach you a lesson, ya' little prat.' He opens his mouth wide and through the eyes of kitten I can see his fangs, and they look pretty nasty. Fang is looking at my back; he leans forward and rips my shirt open with his teeth. I look at my own exposed back, Fangs mouth opens wider, and his fangs glisten with venom.

Err guys I kinda screwed up and now I'm their hostage...

We know that. I teleported Robin and Cyborg into the tunnel behind you, Beast Boy, Starfire and Terra are in the other tunnel. Don't worry... Raven replies.

Despite the message I still worry, there's a half-man, half-spider nutcase with big teeth, really close to my bare back.

'Hurry up and do it!' Kitten yells at Fang.

Fang rears his head and then it snaps forward, I fell immense pain as his big fangs dig into my back, and then numbness.

Fang flings me hard against the wall and I hear the cracking of bones…

My bone structure is unique for a human, it shares many things with bird and cat skeletons, hollow, light but strong.

The problem is that I am more prone to dislocating my joints unintentionally; furthermore I'm also prone to severe dislocations, which require a cast for a few days. And judging from the cracks of hitting the wall and the cracks from falling to the floor I'm going to be in the infirmary for a while…

Robin

Not far, hurry up or you guys will miss the fun.

The words send a chill down my spine.

Lloyd is good at what he does, but he still needs more experience. His blindness doesn't affect him in the dark, or the light, his extra senses make him good at tracking and surveillance, but he needs more experience before going toe-to-toe with the likes of Fang.

The six of us run, the beams of light bouncing as we try to hold the flashlights steady. Up ahead in the gloom is the intersection that Lloyd said they had turned left at. I point to the tunnel that veers off to the left, I let Raven take the lead, she heard Lloyd's message and knows which way.

We keep running in silence, Raven leading, followed by Starfire, behind her is me with Beast Boy running steadily in cheetah form at my side. Behind us Terra tries to keep pace, the tunnels are to narrow for her to fly one of her rocks without hitting the roof or walls. And finally bringing up the rear is Cyborg.

We all turn down the left tunnel.

Watch out for the gap ahead, Cyborg might need help. The message pops into my mind.

We approach the gap, Raven simply flies over it.

I call to Starfire 'Give Cyborg a lift over the gap!'

She hovers in mid air before turning back and picking up Cyborg under the arms, she then turns and flies up the tunnel and over the gap, before dropping Cyborg on the far side. Cyborg lands on his feet, rolls and comes up running as if his feet had never left the ground.

Beast Boy morphs into a bat and simply flies across.

I draw my grappling hook and fire into the ceiling, I swing across, mid-swing a thought occurs. What about Terra? Terra doesn't slow down and just as she steps out, the concrete extends and joins the other side, forming a bridge.

Up ahead I can hear gunfire and flashes of light illuminating the walls.

Kitten is armed with an outdated laser gun; it may overheat so watch out. The message just pops into my mind.

'Raven tell Lloyd to wait up, if they're setting a trap, I wanna be ready for it.' I tell Raven, she nods.

We keep running. Now I can hear the high-pitched cracks of Dead-Eye's twin pistols.

Impatient kid.

'Titans stop!' I command.

The others stop right now.

'Kitten and Fang are setting up an ambush ahead in a junction. D is trying to take em' down by himself'

'So why aren't we down there helping him whoop ass?' queried Cyborg.

The shooting reduced in frequency for a bit, before resuming again.

'Raven take me and Cyborg to the other side of the junction. BB, Star, Terra. You guys wait here. Me and Cy'll flush them from our side towards you. Got it?' I say all this in one breath.

They all nod their heads, Beast Boy raises a hand.

'What about D?'

'Lloyd ran in there against my advice and much as I hate to say it he makes the perfect distraction. C'mon lets take em' down!'

Raven stretches out both her arms and her soul projection spreads its wings engulfing Cyborg and me.

Everything is black. Suddenly we're in another sewer Raven's bird soul shape, spins and Raven reappears.

'Cy ready for a little boom time?'

'I'm always ready.' He replies, his hand converting to a sonic cannon.

Err guys I kinda screwed up and now I'm their hostage...

We know that. I teleported Robin and Cyborg into the tunnel behind you, Beast Boy, Starfire and Terra are in the other tunnel. Don't worry...

Cyborg and I go through the familiar moves for devastating combo. I hurl the Disc, and Cy waits for it to reach the junction.

It clears the tunnel and despite the fact he's falling to the ground Cy's aim is true…

Boom!

Hey I'm down here too!

You should have stayed back; it's your own fault…

Maybe the Sonic Boom attack was a little too overpowered for flushing them out…

Raven

'What about D?' Beast Boy asks.

'Lloyd ran in there against my advice and much as I hate to say it, he makes the perfect distraction. C'mon lets take em' down!' Robin replies.

Personally I think that Lloyd was stupid to charge a stronger foe. He maybe inexperienced, but that's no excuse for stupidity.

I extend my soul animal, The Raven. It's wings engulf Cyborg and Robin. I focus on a point two hundred metres down the tunnel.

We arrive, I deposit robin and Cyborg before returning to my old shape.

Robin and Cy start the opening moves to their double attack.

I just hang back waiting for the explosion.

Boom!

Hey I'm down here too! Lloyd moans telepathically

You should have stayed back; it's your own fault… I snap back at him.

Lloyd doesn't respond.

We run down the chamber.

Along the sides pipes are leaking water from newly formed cracks. If it wasn't for the sounds of fighting, and the roaring of some kind of bear I'd consider it a peaceful place, all be it smelly.

Terra, Beast Boy and Starfire are already fighting with Kitten and Fang. Dead-Eye's lying on his back, the water around him turning crimson from his wounds.

Water is pouring in everywhere.

'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!' I chant the words of power and levitate two 88-gallon drums.

Terra has two chunks of concrete under her control and she's using them like fists, swiping at Kitten.

Kitten's blaster blasts one of the rocks apart and Terra hurls the other one at Kitten's legs.

Kitten rolls to the side and crashes into one of the drums, I make the other one sandwich her from the other side.

She drops D's blaster pistol.

Terra holds her hand up for a high five.

'Nice going Rave…' she manages to get out before a bolt of energy knocks her down.

I rush to her aid.

'Are you all right?' I ask.

'Just winded.' She coughs, clutching her side.

Raven! Robin! Help me! I can't move and the waters pouring into my lungs! I'm drowning! D's psychic cry is filled with fear.

I look to my new teammate. The waters' pouring into his mouth and his body's making small jolts trying to expel the water. He can't cough it up because he's paralysed and his wounds are draining him quickly.

Robin pulls away from his fight with Fang.

He looks at Dead-Eye lying like a corpse in the water.

'Robin look out!' I yell as one of Fang's legs knocks him down. Fang is easily holding off the others, these tunnels are the perfect place for him to use his talents.

Ugly bug brained that he is.

Help me!

My hand glows black, so does Dead-Eye's body I pull him out of the water and suspend him in the air.

I telekinetically force the water out of his lungs, it gushes out of his mouth like a fountain.

Thanks Rae. His reply comes, like all telepathic messages this one has some form of emotional imprint, gratitude.

He may be a jerk like BB used to be, but he's a titan now…

Whether I like it or not…

'Whatever.' I reply.

The others are having trouble with Fang. He's using his spider legs to keep his body off the ground. His human limbs are lashing out at Beast Boy and Robins heads. He's spitting globs of web and venom at Cyborg and Starfire.

I see the weakness in his tactic…

Like all men, Fang has a very exposed weak spot…

I hurl the nearest thing to me at the point where Fang's human legs join…

Too late I realise that the object happens to be a paralysed titan…

The blow stuns Fang, he curls his human limbs up and tries the same with his spider legs. Gravity kicks in and Fang lands on a really upset green-skinned gorilla…

BB can be nasty at times…

You had to friggen' use me like a rock!

The next few messages he sends me are so foul; you'd think he was an ex-con from the worst prison in the country…

'Team that was good work, how are we for injuries?' Robin, ever the leader asks.

'Winded, but ok.' Gasps Terra.

I don't want to alarm you Robin, but I happen to be bleeding to death, completely paralysed and having a headache, after somebody thought I was a slab of concrete says Lloyd.

'You had me fooled.' I say, the others all look at me. Damn they can't hear him only Robin and me. I blush. Cyborg raises his eyebrow.

'Did I miss something here?' he says, a tone of uncertainty in his voice.

'Ok Cy, you take D back to the infirmary, the rest of us will stay…' Robin doesn't finish.

D starts making gagging and choking noises, like Beast Boy choking when trying to eat Tofu and talk at the same time.

Guys this is serious, my throats closing up, I can't breathe properly… heartbeat… irregular… venom… vital organs… pain! The last part of the message is staggered; he can hardly focus to get the message through…

'New plan, Raven, take Cy and D back to the tower now! D's throat is closing and his heart and lungs are being affected!' Cyborg nods and picks up the semi-conscious boy.

I will my soul form and it extends covering myself, Cyborg and Dead-Eye.

We reappear in the living room, Cyborg runs full pelt to the door and out into the corridor. I catch up to him at the infirmary, he's strapping electrodes to D's chest and trying to bandage his back at the same time.

Air!

'He needs air! What do I do?' I ask Cy.

'Ram that white pipe down his throat and flick the switch.' He replies through gritted teeth. 'C'mon your gonna' make it kid.'

I pick up the breathing tube and shove it far down his throat. The switch I activate with my powers. The oxygen pumps straight into him and I feel him lose consciousness.

'He's out cold!'

'Probably hyperventilated, don't worry about that. Come here, these wounds aren't clotting properly.'

I walk to where Cy is crouching. Two big gashes extend from his shoulder blades to his lower back. I put both my hands on them and will them to close. They seal slowly, but he's already lost a lot of blood.

When they close I look at Cyborg.

'Is he going to be ok?' I ask

'He's lost a lot of blood and his vital systems maybe affected.' Cyborg straps some kind of ring onto D's chest electrodes with attached.

'What's' that for?'

'Automated Defibrillator, his heart stops, this starts it. No need for one of us to be up all night.' Cyborg replies, inserting a needle into the vein in his arm, a bag full of blood is on the other end.

'He didn't deserve this.' I say. Dead-Eye and I didn't, don't get along. I don't hate him; right now I'm close to killing Fang and Kitten for this. Cyborg on the other hand is pretty close with him, and he probably feels the same way.

'No he didn't' Cyborg replies

I look down at Lloyd's skinny body lying in the bed, his joints out of place, his left arm hanging the wrong way, the bandages all over his body, and the flap of skin on his head that's torn away, revealing a chrome metal surface underneath…

'Cy, what is that?'

'That, I know all about…' he says tapping the metal half of his head…

Lloyd

Boom!

My eardrums hurt after the blast, must of been one of Cyborg's super weapons…

The pipes are all cracked and leaking, a rat falls in my open mouth.

Hey I'm down here too! I send to Raven and Robin, hopefully one of them will tell the tinman to lay off the heavy ordinance.

You should have stayed back; it's your own fault… Raven replies, with the psychic equivalent to a poke in the eye.

If I were able to I'd make a Grrr noise and draw my guns, western lone cowboy style. But being paralysed sucks.

I split my vision amongst the other titans and the two criminals, its really weird watching myself being punched by myself and then being thrown by myself.

Cyborg's energy signature and heat signature both jump in intensity momentarily, through Fang's spider eyes, which are weird, and that's coming from someone whose seen through cats, rats, dogs, and thanks to BB a T-Rex's eyes, I'm looking down the barrel of Cy's sonic cannon.

Cy's hand reforms and punches at the hybrid's face, Fang's vision blacks out, but only for a second.

Raven is levitating two barrels sandwich Kitten and Kitten's vision black's out, her psychic presence drops from waking to sleep. Nice one Rae…

I then realise something that is important to someone who happens to be paralysed and lying on the floor of a sewer tunnel, up to their eyes in rising water… water rises and fills all cavities that it comes across, Water is also able to block the passage of oxygen and other gases from entering any passageway that is underwater, for instance my mouth in a few seconds…. Or worse right now!

The water pours in and I can't consciously control my muscles. My body senses the water pouring into my lungs and starts spasming my muscles to expel the water but it's not working.

Raven! Robin! Help me! I can't move and the waters pouring into my lungs! I'm drowning! I broadcast the message with all my psychic strength.

Robin turns to see my wounded body on the ground, he takes a spider leg in the face.

I feel a strange sensation of being pulled by strings attached to every part of my body…

Raven is levitating me out of the water, into a standing position, when I actually become vertical, she just lets me hover… It feels even weirder, like I'm a living Marionette…

Thanks Rae.

'Whatever.' She replies in her nonchalant monotone.

Fang is holding the others off quite well. But Raven is planing something, her eyes are focusing on his lower human torso… I figure out what she's planning. That's below the belt Rae, below the belt…

The energy holding upright increases in intensity.

F& is all I think as Raven hurls me with all her telekinetic power at Fang's weak spot…

My neck really hurts when my cranium hits…

I bounce off and Raven regains control, holding me like a puppet again.

Fang curls up his legs, and removes his spider legs from the wall, falling onto BB Kong..

BB slams both boulder sized fists on each side of Fang's head… Like kitten before him, his mental state switches to unconscious.

You had to friggen' use me like a rock! My telepathic scream is so strong, even Robin flinches.

Robin asks the others about injuries, ignoring me the one who happens to need help just keep my head up...

I don't want to alarm you Robin, but I happen to be bleeding to death, completely paralysed and having a headache, after somebody thought I was a slab of concrete I send to the leader of our team and a certain member responsible for said headache.

'You had me fooled.' Raven replies and realizes that only Robin knows what she meant.

'Did I miss something here?' Cyborg says, mildly puzzled.

Robin starts saying something, but I ignore it, something's happening inside, I feel pain slithering around my body like a snake, and I'm talking those big python, Boa Constrictor type snakes.

My heart rate starts to slow, my throat tightens, and my breathing slows…

Ahhh F first paralysis, then major dislocations, then a headache from being a projectile, now I'm dying.

My body's autonomic control thinga-ma-jig starts the whole spasm process and I start making choking noises. Everything starts to spin…Even my psychic "sight"

Guys this is serious, my throats closing up, I can't breathe properly… heartbeat… irregular… venom… vital organs… pain!

I feel Cyborg's hands pick me up, the cold void of Raven's teleportation, the familiarity of Titan's Tower, all rushing past, the very familiarity of the infirmary…

Air! I use all my force of will to get that one word to Raven.

Something cold jumps down my throat, a tube stops my mouth from closing. My head starts to spin and every sense I posses goes black…

I awake to feel a tapping on my head, like a hand against metal…

I automatically become aware of BB and Terra sitting either side of my bed and of Star, Rob, Cy and Rae in the next room.

Everything that is part of me burns…

'What is that thing?' Terra asks.

'I don't know it's like Cyborg's skull, but D isn't a robot, or is he?' BB replies.

I try to move my hand to show I am awake, but nothing happens… Damn!

BB starts knocking on the exposed part of my armoured skull; it's so strong, that if someone tried to break it open with a heavy club, I'd be dead before they even cracked it… It can and has stopped bullets… I just hope it can withstand a green skinned shape-shifting teen.

Cyborg, Robin and Raven are in the next room, Star is in the kitchen and appears to be looking at her cookbook, written in Tamarainian. I hope it's not a get-well cake, the first time I tried her cooking…

Robin, Raven… Could you tell BB to stop poking my skull plate..? It's just that its high-tech-fool-proof, and this is BB…

Robin, Raven and Cyborg all enter the room.

'Beast Boy stop poking Dead-Eye's skull.' Robin said.

'Are you ok there? No pain in any specific places? Powers still intact?' Cyborg says while looking at a monitor with many different lines, I recognise my heart rate and my breathing rate.

I hurt like hell. What do expect from being bitten by Fang? Oh, is this going to be permanent?

'He says there is some pain, he also wants to know if this will be permanent?' Robin replies for me.

'No, the casts will be off in a week, the bites will heal, slowly though. Raven is going to help heal them, as they will open up. You'll probably have massive scars. As for the paralysis, well the worst is over. You'll be able to talk by about tomorrow evening, until then only Rae and Rob can hear you…' Cyborg replies.

Damn, crap, damn, casts?

What casts? I ask.

'The ones on your legs, arm and elbow, stupid.' Raven replies.

Wait. What about my skull? What about the skin missing? When does that get fixed up, or whatever?

'He wants to know about the skin on his head?' Robin says for me.

'That's what I'm about to do. I'm giving you a skin coloured multi-polymer based synthetic carbonised graphite sheet, with internal poly-arcylitical structural meshing.' He replies.

Check if his language settings are still on English…

'Dude, were you talking in English than or some kind of weird machine/sciency thingy?' says Beast Boy.

'Cyborg say that again so that we can understand it.' Robin asks.

'It's fake skin, but strengthened to make it stronger. Your actual skin will take a few months to completely regenerate.' Cyborg says while examining the cast on my right wrist.

'Now this is going to hurt while I do it. Think you can take a little tiny bit more pain?' Cyborg continues, while holding up several samples of the fake skin, trying to find a match for my skin…

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Is my reply, its psychically quite loud. Raven gives me a dark look, and Robin rubs his head.

'I can safely say that he does not want any more pain…' Robin says.

'Fine then.' Cyborg pulls out a needle on a long cord, its connected to a machine with several clear tubes of a clear liquid in them.

Wait… What are you doing with that needle Cy…? Oh no! Get away from me you glorified iPod!

He sticks into my right vein; the left one is covered with the cast. Then he reaches over and presses several buttons, the fluid starts moving slowly up my arm.

'Nighty night, D.' says Cyborg

Are when this over you spooty calculator, I'm gonna'… I pause unsure what to say Do something… sharp and yoooou'llll…. Everything goes black, all my senses, Smellevision, Thermovision, energy vision is not showing anything. My mind-sight, its been completely severed.

It's cold and I am afraid…

Cyborg

'He needs air! What do I do?' Raven yells.

'Ram that white pipe down his throat and flick the switch.' I reply. Rae puts the oxygen tube down D's throat.

'C'mon your gonna' make it kid.' I cajole my wounded friend, he probably can't hear me, but I say it anyway.

'He's out cold.' Rae says, while I try to pour a sterilizing agent onto his wounds.

'Probably hyperventilated, don't worry about that. Come here, these wounds aren't clotting properly.'

Rae comes around and presses her hands to D's back, she does her best to stop the blood flow, but it just keeps coming. The poison must have some kind of anti-clotting agent as well as the neurotoxin.

When they close, Rae looks at me with her violet eyes wide open.

'Is he going to be ok?' she asks, a little wavering in her voice.

I strap an automated defibrillator on his chest.

'He's lost a lot of blood and his vital systems maybe affected.' I reply.

Rae points at the defibrillator.

'What's that for?' She asks.

I explain what it is, while I stick a needle in his vein and give him a blood transfusion.

'He didn't deserve this.' Raven says simply.

'No he didn't.' I agree with Rae, I know she doesn't like D and Vice Versa, but at least she's mature, unlike D.

'Cy, what is that?' She asks

'That, I know all about…' I answer tapping the cybernetic half of my head.

I reach into one of the cupboards and take out a roll of plaster.

'It's reinforcing plate for his skull. D told me about last week. His skull is stronger than a normal skull, but its much, much thinner. His parents were worried about an accident causing irreparable brain damage. But that's not the interesting part.' I push a button on one of the big LCD screens on the wall. It displays a readout of all D's biofeedback.

'See here.' I point to a diagram of D's muscular culture, it's animated movements are based on real-time data. It heaves with every breath. 'D's muscles are almost the same as yours or mine… well maybe not mine. But as you can see here he has very abnormal tissues that enable hyper-fast muscular reflexes.' Rae's look of complete lack of understanding tells me I should try easier terms.

'His muscles are taut whip cords, the enable him to make very fast movements and thanks to his senses, it grants him lightning reflexes.

'Ok, so he can do all those gymnastic things and whatnot.' She replies while raising her hood telekinetically.

'Pretty much yeah.' I reply.

There was a whirring sound in the background as the lift carried the others up to this floor.

The doors slid open and as a group they all came to the medical bay, I was setting out the plaster and preparing to put his left arm into a cast, from the wrist to the shoulder, his right arm would only need a cast on the elbow.

'So how is he?' Robin asked

'Not good he needs sleep, both knees will require bandages, no casts. His left arm needs a full-length cast, the rights just needs a cast to put the elbow back in place. Bite marks are quite nasty and will need regular dressings, the only way I could close them, was with Rae's powers, must be some kind of anti-clotting agent in the venom. The scars are permanent, the paralysis will be probably disappear in several hours, two days at the most, it's a tricky one. So yeah he's pretty well banged up.'

'Ouch.' Robin winced.

'Given his unique physiology, D will be in here for a week, after that he should do only light training for a month or so, after that he'll be ready for active duty. Now give me a hand with the casts.'

Starfire hovers over the bed.

'I shall bake him a Norgalfacka Cake. Normally tradition calls for a Galhacknagia pie, but I don't think he could eat the bones and stone chippings…' she says, judging from the others expressions it went over their heads as well.

'You do that, Star. Beast Boy stop poking him.' Robin said, BB's face droops.

Terra is putting a few band-aids on scrapes on her skinny legs.
Beast Boy walks over and "helps" out by making sure that there firmly attached to thighs…

Robin helps me finish wrapping Dead-Eye's limbs.

'Cy, we need to talk, I'm not sure D is…' he looked over to Terra and BB who'd now fallen to the ground and were making out…
'Want to talking try outside?' I ask my friend.
Robin nods.

We both step outside the infirmary, Robin pulls out his communicator and calls Raven.
Raven didn't activate her camera function but we could tell she must have been doing something private.
A hole appears in the time-space continuum fabric of reality and Raven steps through.
'Robin, Cyborg.' She says with the deadpan rasp that is feared by criminals throughout Jump City.

'I've been having second thoughts about making Lloyd a member of the team.' Robin said, this was entirely unexpected, I had my own doubts and Raven, well Raven can barely tolerate his presence to put it politely.

'I think it was a mistake to make him a titan, he's accident prone, inexperienced and possibly the most impulsive non-psychotic I've met. I want your opinions about this.' He continued.

'Why aren't the others in this?' Raven asks the question I was about to ask.

Robin takes a deep breath. 'Starfire sees only the good in him. Beast Boy is the second most impulsive person I've met and this is a serious issue. And Terra just isn't experienced enough.' He answered.

'As I recall you much like him when you were the same age. You only realise the mistakes of your past when those you care about make them themselves.' I say, Robin pauses for a few seconds. Since he turned twenty Robin's learnt to listen to others and see their wisdom.

'Cyborg's right, Robin. You did stuff like this when you were only sixteen, sure he's only a year older, but he's learning to handle his gifts. He just needs help from us.' Raven adds, I raise my only eyebrow in surprise, Raven defending D that's as likely as Robin and Slade coming out of the closet…

'I'm just not convinced he can take the strain of being a 24/7 hero.' Robin tries the argument again.

'When I first met you and we were only a two boys against the world, I was surprised you lasted the first week, let only become the leader of a highly skilled crime fighting team. The kid just needs experience. Ok he may suck from almost every standpoint, but I think a couple of "intensive" training sessions and he'll be capable of going toe to toe with any of us.' I counter. It's a cruel joke but D hasn't been able to beat any of us in a duel, even when Beast Boy was restricted to a condor, a rat and a greyhound.
Raven nodded in agreement.

'Fine, I'll let him stay, but I want you to never speak of this to him or the others.' Robin says in a deflated tone.

Robin's expression changes to a form of puzzlement that is consistent with him being told something by D or Raven telepathically.
He walks into the infirmary and tells BB to leave Dead-Eye alone.

The next five minutes is filled with a conversation between me and Lloyd, with Robin acting as an interpreter.
I put him to sleep and begin working on his head wounds. Apparently he was quite vexed about being put to sleep. I'll put "Glorified iPod" down to shock just this once…

I surgically graft the fake skin onto his prosthetic skull. I'm forced to stitch him up in a messy manner in order to prevent infection.
'Dude! He looks like a car accident and world war 3 collided!' Beast Boy comments on my patient…

Terra's standing at the door and motions for BB to join her. They were the only ones who remained for the surgery. Robin is out on the roof beating himself up again and according to the roster we wrote up without his knowledge, its Raven's turn to deal with him in his self-flagellating mood.
Starfire is cooking another one of her damned foul cakes…

BB and Terra, well they'll probably sleep for once tonight…

Robin will sleep as soundly as a chronic insomniac.

Starfire, she'll fall into a deep sleep filled with dreams that border on nightmares.

Raven, well I don't pretend I know everything about her, but I don't doubt that she'll have trouble finding rest.

As for me well I plug myself into one of the consoles for a recharge, pull up a chair and open my copy of Robert Ludlum's "The Complete Bourne Trilogy".

Its going to be a long night…