Chapter 10: Remedy

"What in the world is that?!" The vet assistant shrieked, ripping her hands away from the cat carrier.

She backed up and placed her hands on the counter behind her, as if she needed help to stand. Robin sighed and rubbed the back of his head, expecting this exact reaction.

"It's a little hard to explain…" Robin started to say.

"That…thing is not a cat! Cats have fur…and legs!" She cried again.

The women appeared to be young and relatively new to the workplace. Robin guessed she was straight out of high school and in training. She wore pink scrubs that had tiny kittens printed on them, and a matching pink stethoscope. Her ID photo showed her smiling big, and wearing pink blush. Her name was Zoey.

Starfire approached the cage and stuck her hands in. She scooped Silkie out and began cuddling him. She frowned at the vet assistant's reaction. She didn't understand how someone could be scared of something so cute.

"Zoey, may I call you that?"

Zoey slowly nodded.

"Zoey, Please let me explain. You see, this is our pet Silkie. Yes he is clearly not a cat, but as you can see that would have made making the appointment difficult. This is something you can't explain over the phone." Robin continued.

Zoey, still staring at Silkie, slowly nodded her head and listened.

"You see, Silkie was an experiment… He has the DNA of a moth. This is the larvae stage, but he is much…larger. He was genetically modified to be this way. And I know what you're thinking, giant larvae equals giant moth. Well, not exactly. He has not transformed yet, and I don't think he will. I believe it's due to his DNA being genetically altered."

Zoey slowly moved her gaze from Silkie and looked at Robin. She understood everything he said, but had difficulty processing it. She blinked at him absent mindedly a few times before answering.

"I want to say this is the coolest thing I've seen, but it's also the scariest." She looked at Silkie again before shuddering. "This was a science experiment…"

"Yes."

"By you?"

"No. The lab and scientist responsible are classified."

"Classified? Is this thing even legal?"

"Yes. Just think of it as your normal little moth larva, just really big."

Zoey nodded and quickly leaned up.

"I um…I need to go brief the Vet." Zoey rushed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Robin sighed and sat down in the chair beside him. He wasn't sure if they were going to ask them to leave or how the Vet would react.

"I do not understand. Silkie is cute, and very kind. Why would he scare anyone?"

Robin looked over at Starfire, and smiled. She was holding Silkie in her arms protectively and wore a worried look on her face. He admired her beautiful emerald eyes before answering.

"People are always afraid of something they don't understand. Once they understand Silkie, I think they will like him too." Robin reassured her.

Starfire smiled and looked down at Silkie.

"It's okay my little love bug. They will understand you."

Robin smiled at her. He loved how much she cared for Silkie, and how motherly she was towards him. He thought about how she would be with children. He blushed at thought of them having children, then quickly erased the image from his head.

The door opened and an older lady walked in. She looked like she was in her late 30s early 40s. Zoey followed closely behind, and shut the door behind her. The Vet looked at Silkie and raised an eyebrow.

"Huh…you weren't kidding."

"Nope. It's real." Zoey said nervously.

The Vet reached for the glasses that hung around her neck. She put them on, and took a closer step towards Silkie.

"Interesting. Certainly a pet for the Teen Titans." The Vet said.

Zoey's eyes widened. "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I didn't recognize you guys! I thought it was weird when I saw you wearing a mask, but you guys look so different in normal clothes! I am a huge fan-

"Zoey pet first, autographs later." The Vet said, looking over at the star-struck assistant.

"Yes, of course." Zoey straightened her form and cleared her throat, in an attempt to redeem herself from her embarrassing outburst.

"My name is Dr. Stefano. What seems to be the problem with your 'cat'." She said the word cat sarcastically, and eyed Robin from the corner of her eye.

Robin smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head.

"He regurgitated his meal this morning, and has been shaking since then. He refuses meal and water intake, and seems to have a higher body temperature than normal." Starfire replied, looking at Dr. Stefano.

Dr. Stefano raised an eyebrow at Starfire's speech, before paying full attention to Silkie.

"Okay, just place the little guy on the table over here and we will have a look at him."

Starfire nodded, and gave Silkie a quick reassuring smile.

"Zoey, take out your phone and research moth larva and see what you can find."

"Yes ma'am." Zoey replied, quickly plucking her phone from her scrub pocket. Her phone case was pink and bedazzled. Starfire approved of the timid assistant's style, whereas Robin felt the over use of pink slightly nauseating

"Now when you fed him this morning, was it his usual food?" Dr. Stefano asked, shinning a light into Silkie's eyes.

"Oh, yes. I feed him the same meal every morning."

"What does his diet consist of?"

"We feed him a special pellet that my team mate Cyborg designed." Robin answered.

"Cyborg…ah yes the robot looking fella apart of the Teen Titans. Sweet guy, he saved my dog once."

Robin and Starfire exchanged glances, making sure they both heard Dr. Stefano.

"Anyway, so what does this "special pellet" consist of?"

"It consists of nectar and tree sap. They complement the natural raw diet of a wild moth. However…He does eat table food. He sneaks into the fridge at night and helps himself…but that has not affected him in over two years. We believe that whatever he was genetically mutated with allows him to have such a…strange diet." Robin said, looking down at Silkie.

"Did he maybe get into some spoiled food, or maybe he overate?"

"Well that's just it. After our tower was attacked, which I'm sure you saw on the news, Silkie has not eaten any table food. No more midnight snacks either." Robin held his chin in thought, and pondered for a moment.

"Yes I remember hearing about that. My family was a little worried. The article stating everyone was okay and the tower was under repair lifted a lot of spirits." Dr. Stefano said, giving Robin and Starfire a warm smile.

Robin and Starfire couldn't help but smile back. It felt nice knowing people in the city cared for them. That people cheered for them, and that they apparently had fans. Robin made it a note to himself to be a little more open with the public. He thought it would be a good idea to offer comfort to the city. Let them know that the Teen Titans still stand strong and will continue to watch over their beloved city.

Silkie let out a little whimper, and began shaking more visibly.

"Oh my little love bug!" Starfire cooed as she went by his side, and coaxed him gently.

"Zoey? Find anything?"

"No, this information is no good due to the fact Silkie isn't a natural moth. And also these pictures of bugs are creeping me out…no offense."

Starfire offered a smile to reassure Zoey that no offense was taken.

The Vet used her stethoscope to check Silkie's breathing and pulse. She recorded the information on a note pad, and then replaced her stethoscope around her neck. She walked over to a cabinet and opened it up. She retrieved a small device before heading back over to the exam table.

"This is the same thermometer parents use on newborns; this is the only thing I can think of using to get a temperature from him."

Robin nodded his head and looked at Silkie.

The Dr. turned on the thermometer and placed it on Silkie's forehead. Thirty seconds later it was beeping, and the temperature read on a digital screen.

"101.0 Fahrenheit. He definitely has a fever."

"Is he is going to be the okay?"

"Well from what I gather, he's showing symptoms of the flu. Lack of appetite, vomiting, chills, and fever all fit the category. I'll prescribe him a low dose of antibiotics, and if he needs a higher dose we will take it from there."

Robin nodded his head and smiled. "Okay, sounds good. Thank you doc."

"You're welcome." Dr. Stefano said, smiling warmly

"Oh and I believe he is sick due to stress, most likely from the attack on your tower. If he hasn't been normal since then, it is most likely due to trauma. Try some stress relief activities with him. I'll even prescribe you a low dose of Xanax to help calm him."

She took out a prescription note pad and wrote down Silkie's medications. She tore the piece of paper off and handed it to Zoey.

"Have the prescriptions filled for them, I have to see my next appointment."

"Yes ma'am." Zoey said, taking the paper from the Vet's hand.

"It was a pleasure meeting you both, I'm glad the Titans are still watching over us." Dr. Stefano said before exiting the room, with Zoey trailing behind.

'The Titans…' The name stuck out to Robin and he pondered on it for a moment. He felt a smile threaten to appear, so he bit his bottom lip to conceal it. 'The Titans..' He said again in his mind. He looked over at Starfire who was gently guiding Silkie back into his crate. 'She's grown so much…' She was no longer the strange teenage princess who crash landed on earth. Four years had passed since they formed the Teen Titans and so much has happened in that time. He noticed Starfire was taller, and had blossomed into a beautiful young woman. He blushed and looked down, trying not to notice other things that had grown too…

As he stared at the tiled floor he chuckled to himself. They were no longer the 'Teen Titans'…They were simply the Titans.

"What is funny Robin?" Starfire asked curiously.

Robin snapped back into reality and looked up at Starfire. She was holding the cat carrier in both arms, and had a concerned look across her face.

"Oh um, I just had a thought. I think we should have a team meeting tonight."

"Is something the matter?"

"Don't worry, it will be a good meeting."

"Oh, I cannot wait!" Starfire beamed.

"Me either." Robin said, smiling at her.

Zoey popped into the room holding a white bag.

"Okie dokie, you're all set. Just go to the front desk and Lisa will ring you up."

"Okay, thank you." Robin said, grabbing the bag from Zoey's hand.

Zoey smiled at Robin, and blushed a little. She looked at Starfire and gave a small wave, before shuddering at the sight of Silkie. Zoey quickly disappeared from the room, making Robin chuckle a little.

"Alright Star, let's go home."