Chapter Four

The three titans slowly entered their tower and flopped on the couch. Their day had been long, starting at 2am and had ending 3am the next morning. They had just left the Jump City Emergency Hospital, where they spent the last three hours with their fallen team mates.

The two had been seriously injured in battle with Cheshire. Rachel had already been pretty beaten up by Mumbo and Cheshire had seen that she was weakened and targeted her first. Cheshire had attempted to cut Rachel's throat before Garfield intervened and Cheshire had only grazed her neck. Cheshire then went after Garfield enraged and had gone after his extremities.

Being the incredible athlete Garfield was he avoided the claws the best he could but much to the teams dismay she had managed to stab him in the thigh. The poison affecting him instantly. As Rachel and Garfield rolled around on the street in agony, Dick and Kory chased off Cheshire and took the infected teens to the hospital where they were given an antidote which put the two into a drug induced coma to allow the poison to do its worst while they slept.

The doctor told them that the teens would wake by morning and that they need not worry. The bad news however worried the titans. The doctor mentioned that there may be slight side effects. He couldn't say what the affects could be or how long they would last but he insisted it wasn't anything to worry about.

Karen and Garth were sent home to the titans east tower and were told to rest up which everyone was grateful for.

A silence enveloped the tower, their minds racing about the previous events past. The three teens didn't utter a word as they all watched the sun rise. The reds, oranges, purples and dark blues scattering across the sky. Kory moved closer to Dick and rested her head on his shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her and she sighed.

"I'm worried about our friends." She finally spoke up.

"They'll be fine Kory" Victor grinned. "You know how tough they are."

"He's right, Rachel's half demon and Garfield is half beast. A little scratch won't stop them coming home." He whispered in her ear. "I think we should get some sleep and then we'll go to the hospital later" Dick looked at the clock on the wall. The three agreed and went to their own rooms.

Ten minutes later, Kory's door slid open silently and she checked that no one was around. She hovered two rooms down and knocked on the door twice. It slid open a crack and then she was pulled in quickly and the door was sealed.

"I could not sleep Dick." She shivered.

"Neither could I." He said pulling the covers over the two. "I am worried but I know they'll be fine Kory. They will" he reassured not only the beautiful Tamaranian next to him, but himself as well.

"I truly have the hope that they come home soon"

Slowly Rachel begun to stir and she began to panic, she felt something in her throat and her lungs being filled with air and empitying in a strange rhythm. Something had control of her body and she was unable to regain it. She thought to herself that she had died and the sensations she was feeling was all part of her brain trying to turn back on.

Suddenly she felt someone near her, and the warmth of someones hand on her forehead. The hand pressed firmly down and then suddenly she felt as though her oesophagus was being ripped out and her gag reflexes were working over time, and then she felt her throat clear and the panic left her body. She managed to take a breath and opened her eyes.

"Its good to see you're awake Miss Raven." The male nurse had a large grin on his face, he had golden brown curly hair and his eyes were the colour of red honey. Rachel felt her face fluster and she gave him a small smile before looking down over to the other bed in the room.

There sat her green team member, staring at her in horror. He was covered in sweat and his hands clenched the bed sheets, which were slightly ripped. He gulped, but his eyes never left her's and the look in them didn't change. "Miss Raven, we feared we were about to lose you." The nurse said to her in a calm voice. "You're heart rate increased quite quickly and you began to seizure." The nurse continued, the tone in his voice seemed almost uninterested like it was something he seen every five minutes.

"I thought you were gonna explode." Garfield's voice was higher in pitch then usual and had a distinct rattle. He cleared his throat. "Are you ok?"

"I- I believe so." Rachel was worried, why wasn't she just in the clinic they had in the tower. Something wasn't right. She waited until the nurse left the room after he adjusted her morphine and Garfield's. Quickly tossing the sheets off her body, she looked at her self, she had a drip in her left hand and still had her breathing mask on which she pulled off. Much to her dismay she felt a sharp sting along her neck. "What?"

Dick hung up the phone that hung on the kitchen wall. From what Kole heard the news was good and he'd be somewhere in thirty minutes. He stared at her, a large grin on his face. "Rachel and Garfield are awake." He cried loudly. "They're awake!" He cried again as he nearly lept in excitement. "I'm going to pick up Rach now."

"Errh" Kole didn't share her team mate's enthusiasm. She was always slightly jealous of Rachel, Garfield was - for some strange reason it seemed to her - completely smitten by Rachel. Which angered the teen, she tried her hardest with Garfield, flirting and being overly obvious with him what she wanted, but none of it worked. "That's great. But what about Gar?"

"What's this about the green bean?" Victor questioned from the crescent shaped couch.

"Garfield's still having tests done to make sure he's ok. He received a higher dosage of the poison and they aren't certain of the damage. Rachel's coming home though, her body healed itself." Dick said to him as he picked up the keys to the T-car and his costume which was a spare that hung in the coat room where he quickly changed. He also grabbed a spare set of 'Raven's' costume. He then jumped into the elevator that was in the cloak room. The ride down was fast and when the doors opened, he saw the T-car. Victor was already waiting in the drivers seat.

"Give me the keys man." He said strongly as the Boy Wonder approached the car.

"Whatever." Dick said as he got in. He handed the large robotic man the keys and then placed on his mask. The car started and a large roller door opened. The car then rolled out and drove through along tunnel. This tunnel eventually led out to the City's harbour and the car sped along the City's streets. They arrived to the hospitals main entrance and as expected arrived to find about 7 different news channels. All the reporter's flocked to the two heros who walked to the door's and ignored the comments and questions from the reporters.

They passed the hospital's secruity, who held back the sworm, they then entered through the automatic door.

When they entered the room Rachel and Garfield occupied they saw that Garfield was watching Rachel sleep.

"How's it hanging B-man?" Cyborg said gently punching his friend on the arm.

Caught off guard Garfield stuttered and mumble before he landed on "I'll survive." And chuckled. He was still bruised from fighting off a flurry of Cheshires swipes and gut crushing kicks.

Robin raced to Rachel's side. She was bruised badly and the slit along her neck was stapled and covered in what appeared to be iodine. She awoke at his touch and he wrapped her in his arms, "Don't you dare do something like that again. You know Cheshire is dangerous yet you went after her alone anyway!" Dick said once he let her go. Rachel always hated it when he used his 'I'm your leader' tone. "What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" He shouted and then turned to Garfield. "You too!" He pointed. "I don't understand what's gotten into you lately but whenever she does something stupid, there you are too. We need to start working together and planning things out."

Robin was on a rampage. Cyborg could see all the nurses and doctors jaws dropping at what they heard. Once he calmed down he gave Rachel her clothes and she shifted into the adjoining toilet and changed into her new clothes. As she came back into the room Garfield studied her. There was still some bruises visible on her legs that she hadn't healed. She cringed when she bent down to get the washing the hospital staff had done for her. This saddened the teen, he hated seing her like this, the poison had affected her powers slightly and she tired too quickly every time she tried to meditate.

He began to worry that maybe she was losing her power and she would have to retire from the team. 'No!' He thought. 'She's half demon. She knows magic.' He told himself. 'She'll be fine.' He smiled at her.

"Hey don't miss me too much Rae" he winked at her.

"It'll be hard, but I think I'll live." She retorted in a painful sarcastic tone. Garfield didn't understand why she was so nasty to him. Or why he liked her. It was a total mystery to him, but ever since Trigon had been defeated he seen her open up a little more. She still needed to keep her emotions under control but she wasn't pushing everyone away.

"Come on Raven." Robin placed his hand on her back and walked her to the door. "It was good seeing you Beast Boy, hopefully you'll be right to come home too."

"Hopefully." He repeated. "Cy-man, I'mma kick yo' butt on City Racer 5 when I get home." He threatened as Cyborg knuckled his green friend.

"We'll see tofu boy." He teased and then the three left. Garfield felt so alone as he stared at the empty bed across from him. Her gown still on the bed, he sighed and repeatedly hit his head back into the pillow before rolling onto his side and falling asleep.

Chapter End.