You know that feeling you get on Christmas Eve when you can't sleep? Yeah, that's me right now so I wrote a chapter in an attempt to tire myself :) Didn't work. Happy Holidays, guys.
The Titans had each packed bags within minutes of Phoenix's face fading from the screen and were just beginning to load up the T-Ship when Cyborg entered the room, his one grey eye sparking with confusion. "What did I miss?" Raven and Robin shared a guilty look as they turned away from the vehicle, leaving the packing to Beastboy and Starfire.
"Phoenix called, she needs our help up there." Robin's voice was that of a politician giving a statement to the masses and earned nothing but a quirked eyebrow from the half-robot. Raven sighed.
"Most of her team are injured, we didn't get many details, but she says it's bad and that she needs us." Hearing the slight tinge of emotion leeching into the empath's usual monotone, Cyborg nodded and half turned away.
"I'll grab a bag and call Bee back so she and the guys can cover us." Robin caught hold of the older boy's arm before he could get far.
"I want to ask you to stay here." Raven frowned, testing their bond with ethereal fingers; he hadn't run this by anyone else first. He must have felt her concern because he shot her a quick glance and a quicker smile, laced with as much reassurance as a second could hold. "The crime rate's quite high right now and it'll take Titans East a while to get here. I need someone I can trust here to keep lookout." That there was something that Robin was extremely good at; making people feel important as he filtered them into the positions he wanted them in. "Take Bee on that date and keep my city safe for me. We ok?" Cyborg smiled at both of the birds warmly. He knew when he was being railroaded but he had the grace not to pick his leader up on it, the technicolour bird was probably just trying to ensure that no problems arose between him and Raven. Robin held out a hand that Cyborg shook without hesitation.
"Yeah, man, we're cool." He turned his human eye onto Raven then, releasing the green gloved hand of his leader to pull the empath into a loose hug. "Take care of him, will you? You know how he gets sometimes." He whispered the words in her ear, barely audible even to him, but he knew that she would hear. A barely perceptible nod as she pulled away was his answer and the sparkle in her dark eyes her well wishes for him. He waved as they turned to get into the T-Ship, Robin in the centre
with Raven on the right wing, with the defences. There was no need for him to say goodbyes; they would be back soon enough.
Cyborg retreated out of the garage and into the main building as the engines roared into life, avoiding the jets that filled the room with orange flames and charcoal smoke. He coughed and closed his human eye as the smoke got down his throat. By the time his scarlet, robotic eye had compensated, the T-Ship, and his teammates, were a mere speck in the pale blue sky.
/
The T-Ship touched down in the largest cave in a large formation just outside of Sol city, and, as the engines began to cool, a solid metal door closed off the cavern. "Hey." A rough voice greeted them from a dark corner of the cave and deep blue eyes glittered as they followed the Titans descent to the rocky floor. Robin, first on the ground, looked around to see Phoenix limp from the shadows, leaning lightly against the wall.
His masked eyes narrowed in concern; she was stood stiffly as if she were trying to keep her firebird adorned uniform from touching her skin. Her feet were bare bar a bandage on the left and her arms were mottled blue and purple.
"Hi." It was hard to keep the anger towards the criminal who'd beaten her so badly from his voice.
"Dude." Beastboy's low whistle was a bold underline to the state of their friend. The firebird shrugged, trying and failing to hide the wince that the movement caused. "You look like Robin does after Slade." Raven elbowed the changeling sharply, shooting him a dark look. Beastboy ran a hand through his emerald hair, offering a sheepish smile. Fortunately Starfire took the attention from the green boy by flying past the line of her team and enveloping the Northern Titans' leader in a surprisingly loose hug.
"Friend, you are injured." The Tameranian held her at arm's length to inspect the injuries
"Easy, Star." Robin cut across the greetings, stepping forwards as soon as the alien girl let go, drifting to stand back. "What happened?" Phoenix cracked a half smile, flicking her wrist to check her too loose red watch. A watch that Robin recognised as Crimson's.
"Always business, Wonder Boy." The firebird turned, pressing a barely visible button on the wall with her thumb to make the rock face give way to the heroes and reveal the elevator car beyond. "You mind if we move this downstairs? I need to check on Matt and Ike." She didn't wait for an answer; she merely entered the lift and waited for the others to follow. The question was merely a formality, and while the words were typical of the girl, none of the usual emotion lurked behind them.
"Are you ok?" Raven murmured as the elevator doors closed and the machine lurched into life. Phoenix gave another half smile that failed to reach her eyes.
"I got off lightly. I guess Imago gets bored easily." Beastboy scoffed, letting his emerald eyes catalogue her injuries. He knew there were more her uniform; the Beast within could smell the blood.
"This is lightly?"
"Compared to the others it is." The elevator ground to a halt, letting the Titans into a rock lined corridor. "I'll meet you in the main room in a few minutes. It's straight down the hall." No one moved. "Go ahead. I'll drop by the infirmary, then I'll be right up."
"Be safe, friend Phoenix. Are you sure you do not need assistance?" Starfire stopped halfway out of the elevator, letting Beastboy pass her by, eager to explore and less eager to see the state of the rest of Phoenix's team. Robin and Raven hadn't moved at all. The watch began to beep insistently, earning it an irritated glance from the firebird.
"I'm sure. There's nothing you could do anyway." Raven touched her bond with Robin gently as the boy finally stepped into the corridor. He understood instantly and smiled.
"Raven could." Phoenix let out a heavy sigh as she looked past the empath to her currently ex-lover. She held his masked gaze only long enough to push another button, blinking as the doors closed on Robin, Beastboy and Starfire.
"Now he's gone, answer my question. Are you ok?" Raven folded her arms, watching her friend use the metal walls to stand.
"I think I can remember being worse." The empath quirked an eyebrow as the doors opened again on another stone corridor and Phoenix began to stumble out ahead, only to stop at the corner. "Of course that could've just been regaining consciousness in a hospital yesterday." Raven let out a soft laugh, drifting just above the floor to follow her.
"Hospital? Are you even supposed to be walking around yet?"
"Technically no, but what does Doctor Cortez know anyway?" Her ankle may have been badly swollen but the firebird made good time to the infirmary; the cloaked girl had only just drawn level with her as she entered the next room.
Only one of the four beds inside was occupied; Phoenix swore under her breath. "Matt?" Her voice echoed slightly, she shook her head as she hobbled inside to make her way over to the nearest bed and the midnight blue haired boy who was unconscious in it. The firebird checked over the machines quickly, brushing a stray lock of hair from her patient's face. It was only then that Raven saw the dangerously deep tear at the junction of his throat and shoulder. As Phoenix turned away to shamble towards the other end of the room, Raven passed a glowing blue hand across the wound, closing the tear to a pale scar.
"I forget you can do that." Phoenix reappeared beside Raven, smiling to herself as she injected a clear liquid into the boy's arm. Before the plunger even reached a quarter of the way down the syringe a cold hand closed around Phoenix's wrist.
"He doesn't need sedating anymore." The look in the empath's eyes was half confused and half worried. The other girl gently removed her friend's grip.
"Ike's little sister, Ayla, you remember her?" She waited for Raven to give a nod. "Imago killed her in front of him. He didn't need sedating before, but he wanted to be. He doesn't want to face it yet." The look in the familiar amethyst eyes was clear now. "I know it'll only be worse when he wakes up, Rae. I know." Raven sighed and looked away as Phoenix finally finished giving Ike the sedative. Setting the needle aside the firebird placed a calloused hand on Raven's arm. "It's only for two days, including today. He woke up in the hospital and screamed for Ayla." She stopped, hearing the yells again in her head. Raven closed her eyes as the echoes reached her own mental ears. "He fought the doctors, the nurses and me before he remembered." At the next break in speech a wave of weariness emanated from the pyromancer and the empath took pity on her.
"Where's Crimson?"
"He probably escaped again, either to his room, the games room or the main room."
/
"Dude, who is this Imago?" Beastboy entered the control room backwards, talking to Robin as the doors opened behind him. The room was much like the one in their own tower, only the walls were made of stone rather than metal.
"He calls himself Imago Dei." It wasn't Robin who answered the green boy and the changeling whirled around, already in a fighting stance before he saw the young man in the wheelchair rolling over to greet them.
"Boyfriend Matthew!" Starfire cheered flying over to the chair-bound hero and somehow enveloping him in a tight hug. Crimson winced in obvious pain, but schooled his features into a smile when the alien released him.
"Hey, Star." Starfire remained floating beside his chair as Robin and Beastboy took seats on the half-circle sofa nearby. "Imago is-was a mercenary who got sick of doing the grunt. A while back he tried to take out S.T.A.R Labs, we caught him by surprise but he got away."
"What do the labs here specialise in?" Robin was beginning to wish that he'd brought Cyborg along; science was his area of expertise. Briefly, he toyed with the idea of calling him, but quickly decided against it.
"Weaponry. The infectious kind." Beastboy yelped.
"You're kidding me!" The doors opened before Crimson could give any form of answer, and, upon seeing who was behind the doors, his face fell into a mask of guilt.
"He's not kidding. You or anyone else." Phoenix could hide the disapproval from her voice, but not her eyes as she and Raven strode into the room. "C'mon, Red. Cortez said you needed bed rest." Crimson looked her in the eye and folded his arms as best he could; they looked stiff.
"I seem to remember him saying the same to you, Nix." His deep red eyes looked her up and down and then narrowed.
"Although you're looking remarkably more healed than you were yesterday." Phoenix tried to gesture with her head for the hero to stop talking, but he ignored her. "Did Angel here heal you up?" Crimson shot a glance towards Raven. "Is that why you two took so long to find me?"
"If Raven'd healed me, I doubt she would have left me with the swollen ankle." She found Robin's curious gaze and knew that behind the mask he was thinking back to any other time that she'd been injured, and trying to gauge her heal rate. "Put it down to genetics so we can get back on topic." Now the Boy Wonder was comparing her to her father and Raven was moving over to Crimson, placing a pale hand against his bound legs. The hand glowed blue and the empath wavered when she straightened.
Robin was fast, catching the cloaked girl's arm before she hit the ground. Phoenix was somehow faster, wrapping a bruised arm around her shoulders and keeping her from hitting the ground.
"Easy, Rae." Robin smiled as Crimson rocked forwards out of his chair, Starfire holding his arm, as he attempted to walk.
"Dudes…" Beastboy called to them from the other side of the room. "Should this be here?" He held up a camera that had plainly just been torn out of the floor; the cable still hanging from the back and the red light blinking at them. Almost mockingly. Crimson shared a short glance with Phoenix before answering the green boy.
"No."
Thank you for reading my nighttime ramblings :)