Chapter eleven - Home
"Dying is only one thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else." - Morrie Schwartz
"Hey, Rob." Cyborg said, taking a moment before he raised a brow. "Are you just now getting home?" He noted his leader was wearing civilian clothes.
"Yeah…" He said in a hesitant tone.
"Oh, okay." Robin, was immediately weary of the mechanical man, not reacting the way he'd expected, knowing something was coming, quick in making his escape, walking to his room, not willing to look back.
He returned soon after in uniform, stretching as he brewed some coffee, previous cup left unfinished on Slade's table.
"Morning." Cyborg said, Robin, unwilling to face the smirk he knew was aimed at his back.
"Morning." He poured some coffee. They sat in silence for a bit, Robin sipping at his coffee.
"So, when do we get to meet your boyfriend." He started to cough, choking slightly before he was able to regain composure opposed to a persistent blush.
"What?" He asked.
"That's where you were, right? Bea, said you were there for dinner last night."
"He isn't my boyfriend."
"So when do we get to meet this friend?"
"Not really a friend."
"One night stand?"
"We didn't do that…" His tone was a bit weaker, he didn't want to think of 'that'.
"Whatever you say, man." Cy got the hint, not wanting to see another episode from his fearless leader, wanting to keep him in that light.
"Why are you talking of night stands?" Starfire pipped.
"Um… Don't worry about it, Star." The bird released a slight laugh, sipping his mug.
They all sat at the table, conversing, Bea, eventually walking out, yawning, jabbing Robin's side as he passed.
"Have a nice dinner?" Robin didn't even speak, shooting him a glare. "Okay, dude, whatever you say." He laughed nervously, shying away.
"Man, we already asked him earlier." Cy informed.
"Next time I'll get up earlier, dude." The changeling smiled, making toast.
"Please do…" Robin, said under his breath, hearing laughter at his side.
He found his attention waver as time went on, the conversation going on for a bit without him, though eventually Raven noticed his gaze, watching him. It took a bit longer for anyone else to notice, Beast Boy, noting it next, followed by Cyborg and Starfire.
"Rob, you good?" He didn't pay him any mind. "Robin!" He said louder, watching him startle.
"I'll be in my room…" He said, voice slightly panicked, as he left the table, walking to his room.
"What's wrong with him?" Cy asked, concerned.
"PTSD." Raven said simply, drinking her tea.
"Oh… yeah…" He sighed, running a hand over his head.
He needed to get away. Needed to be alone. His head buried in hands, trying to convince himself that what he'd seen, hadn't been real, knowing it was impractical. He swore he'd seen them though, the pair who'd taken him, outside the window, making him need to get away. He felt the welling panic, knowing he needed to get away before he had another attack, now just trying to relax. His breathing became erratic, making him panic more, hearing someone knocking at the door, knowing it was Raven.
She had to rise from the floor, him having locked the door, seeing him huddled under his desk, grabbing the sides of his head.
"Robin, calm down." She offered some pills as she had the time before, though this time he couldn't swallow them, feeling his throat close up, starting to choke.
"C-can't... " Robin managed, coughing, crawling to his hands and knees across the ground, coughing and hacking, trying to suck in, unable.
"Robin." Raven was starting to panic herself, barley keeping face as she knelt by the boy, watching him gag, "Breath." A hand gripped his shoulder, trying to assure him she was there. Tears streamed down his face due to lack of oxygen, chest convulsing, aching as his lungs became more insistent.
Cyborg, burst in, typing the emergency code.
"Robin!" The older male ran to his aid, seeing the bird's eyes start to close, trying to stop them, shaking his head, arms shaking. It wasn't long before Robin felt his elbows bend without permission, body crashing to the ground. He rolled to his side, attempts at gaining oxygen slowing, lids shutting, going unconscious. Cyborg was at his side in an instant, rolling his body over to start CPR.
He started to scream, crying, scratching his stomach as his back arched.
"Get it out!" His face contorted, feeling his arms held, seeing,Cyborg, above, with the remains of the team behind him.
"What are you-" Cyborg tried, when the boy started to scream again, starting to claw at his stomach.
"Get it out! Get it out! Get it out!" Cyborg, had to hold his arms to his sides to avoid him breaking through skin.
"What are you talking about, man?!" The oldest Titan yelled, watching the boy panic.
"I can feel it! It- it's inside! Please! Get it out! I can feel it clawing my insides!" The man was about to say it was all in his imagination, simply a hallucination due to rape trauma, when it happened. Robin's features froze, tears sliding down his face as he stared at the robotic features, a small bit of blood running from the corner of his mouth.
"Raven!" The girl was already at their side, hands hovering where the claw marks lay.
"Parasite."
"Like the one from before?" Cy, asked.
"No. It wants him dead so it can have his body."
"How many are there?"
"Just one." She hovered her hands over the boy, starting to recite a chant. "Exire de corpore non receperunt ar te…" She repeated, eyes turning black as she did so.
"Stop!" Robin's mask glowed red, waving a hand. Raven flew across the room hitting the far wall with a hearty thud, team immediately alert.
"Dude!" Beast Boy, said, seeing Robin's body rise, bones cracking in several places, a wide unnatural smile plaguing his lips.
"Not quite…" A distorted giggle left him.
"What have you done to, friend Robin?!" Star, was livid, eyes green with fury.
"Nothing he didn't want me to do…" The parasite said, voice echoing as it laughed.
"What do you mean?" Raven, asked as she looked up from her place against the wall.
"I wasn't strong enough to kill him when he didn't want to die, I simply gave him assistance."
"You mean you-"
"Got him raped? Yes." There was a high giggle again. "It worked out better than I could have ever imagined. Sadily possession is quite draining, so I was forced to hibernate."
"Get out of him." Raven, said, seeing the wide smile, though seeing the tears still run along his face. "He's still in there." Raven turned to the rest of the team.
"Heheheheheh! But for how much longer?" His pitch was slightly higher, a thin stream of blood running down his chin.
"Hold him down." Raven said, already using her magic to slam it against a wall, disorienting it enough for the others to hold its casing down, while she started to chant.
"Cute really. Trying to save him when it's already to late." Raven, continued her spell, ignoring the words "You can feel it, can't you, Raven? His life essence slowly dwindling." A giggle ripped through the air. "Why didn't you stop them…" The parasite suddenly took on a weak, dying tone, much more like, Robin's. "You knew… But you didn't-" She screamed the words, a bulb bursting, room beginning to shake.
"Whoa, man!" Cy, tried, nearly losing his footing, taking a better stance. No one dared interrupt, Robin's body pushing up, his struggle worsening.
"Please! Get out! Get out!" Robin, began to scream, all around frowning, sounding completely panicked, pained as it was. "Get off me! No! H-hurts!" His words sounded as though he was reliving the past, as his struggle augmented farther, a giggle suddenly sounding.
"Do you hear him?" The parasites said. "His cries as his mind recreates his most recent pain. There are others, you know." The tone disappeared, starting the next reel.
"No… m-mom..." He saw the fall of his parents running through his mind, the wire on the trapeze act snapping, both his mom and dad hit the ground, audible snaps sounding as their bones made contact with the dirt. "Ahhhhh!" He simply screamed, more tears running along his face.
"Dude!" Beast Boy tried, trying to put his weight on the leader.
He continued to scream as the memories coupled with the pain attacked him, switching from his parents to the torture he'd endured when kidnapped by the Joker during his time with Batman.
"Do you hear? Yet you couldn't do anything to stop it." Another giggle, rooms shake heightening. The frail boy began to cough, blood spraying on the changeling.
"Dude!" Bea, cried again, regretting his decision to lay on the other's legs to keep him still, turning to the other, planning to shoot him a glare when he saw his state. Robin shook, struggle subsiding, eyes struggling to stay open. "Dude..." His own eyes started watering, wanting to help, though deciding it best to stay on his legs in case he tried to get away again. "Please don't die…" He said hugging his knees.
"I need someone to hurt him!" Raven screamed between chants.
"What?!" Cy asked, that seeming the last thing they should do.
"Hurt him so he gets enough control to force the parasites into hibernation!" Beast Boy was the one to act first, shifted into a cat, starting to knead the boy's stomach. "That's not going to be enough! Hurry!" The youngest, with little hesitation, forced his claws into the bird's arm, scratching downward, starting to shed his skin, luckily not having to go on long before he seemed to gain enough of himself.
"Stop it… Beast Boy…" His voice trembled with the attempt to speak.
"Robin! You have to fight it!"
"Mhh…" He whined, void of energy.
"Robin!" Raven cried, shaking, tears sliding from her jet black eyes.
There was a scream, a scream so high the Titans, opposed to Robin, where forced to shoot their hands to ears, Beast Boy, falling to his back. The high refusal echoed despite not having anything to echo off, back arching as he gripped the sides of his head, tugging his messy locks. His team was alert the moment he stopped screaming, Robin moving to his hands and knees, trying to crawl forward, limbs shaking, vision doubling, as he fell forward in a crumpled heap.
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