CH26: Honorary Titan

It's been hours since Cyborg disappeared into the med bay with See-More. Since then I have replaced my tattered costume with a spare I kept at the Hive base. Being all cleaned up and refreshed from our battle earlier, I couldn't help but feel antsy knowing that the war with Slade was just beginning. Back at the Brotherhood base he did threaten to use my friends against me. But this was the last thing I was expecting.

See-More was in bad shape when I last saw him due to the electrical discharge that emanated from the inside of his body. Was that Slade's means of controlling him? He was now fighting for his life because of it and I had a feeling there was more to come.

Raven was with me in the main ops room and she looked annoyed due to me constantly pacing back and forth the way a father-to-be does while his wife is in labor.

"You know, Cyborg is very knowledgeable of human anatomy. In fact, he is very intelligent in many fields of expertise. There's little he can't fix both human and machine. Your friend is going to be fine."

Fine? Yea, easy for her to say. She wasn't the one who went to school with him. She wasn't the one who spent several years with him on missions and shared badass villainous moments with. I couldn't stand feeling helpless.

'He is my best friend. If he doesn't make it… I don't know what I'd do.' Raven got up from the couch and stopped me from pacing. She held my hand and locked eyes with me.

"Cyborg is the best. If anyone can stabilize your friend, it's him."

A few minutes later the ops room doors opened and in came Cyborg and Beast Boy. I shot up from the couch much to Raven's annoyance due to her head resting on my shoulder.

'How is he?' I asked eagerly. Cyborg looked like he had been working for hours. The human half of him was covered in sweat and he looked tired.

"He's in a coma. After I located the source of trauma, I had to perform emergency surgery."

'Surgery? Is he alright?'

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other with concern.

"See-More narrowly survived whatever discharged inside him. The source originated in his spinal cord and it appeared to be metallic. I removed most of the melted metal that fused to it, but some residue remains. I injected a dissolvent to the contaminated area and it should be completely dissolved in a couple hours.

'That's great…'

"However, your fiend suffered major trauma to the nerves in his spinal cord. It's a miracle he's alive all things considered."

'So, what are you saying?'

"The damage needs to be repaired, otherwise See-More might be paralyzed or not even wake up from his coma. I'll have to repair the damaged nerves and restore the connections to their respected synapses."

"Is that even possible? I mean, can you do it?" Raven inquired.

"I can't, but I know someone who can walk me through the process. Robin is contacting him now."

'You're getting Batman to repair synapses?' I asked skeptical. He was the world's greatest detective, not a neurosurgeon.

"Not the bat, a friend of his. Ray Palmer."

'Who?'

"That's smart. He'll definitely be able to help out." Raven said matter a factly.

'Am I the only one who has no idea what's going on?' I asked exasperated. I was so not being kept in the loop.

"All you need to know is that with Ray Palmer helping Cyborg, See-More will be at 100% in a matter of time."

Guess that was good enough. Based on the secrecy revolving around Ray Palmer, I had no doubt in my mind that he had a superhero alter ego. But if he could help See-More I could live with the secrecy.

'I appreciate all that you've done. Thank you.'

Cyborg nodded and left with Beast Boy not far behind leaving Raven and I all alone. While normally I'd be taking advantage of an opportunity like this, See-More fighting for his life really didn't set the mood. The next thing I knew, Raven was heading out the same doors the other Titans went through.

"C'mon, I know something that will cheer you up, or at least lighten the mood."

We trekked a couple stories higher and made our way down several hallways passing by all the other Titan's rooms; Robin's, Cyborg's, Starfire's, Raven's, and Beast Boy's.

"You are a Titan as long as you are under our roof. This means that as long as you stay with us, you will not commit any crimes or act without instruction. No solo missions trying to hunt down Slade; we are a team. No quarreling with the other Titans regardless of history; we are a team. And on a more personal note, if you are caught perving on any of the female Titans, there will be hell to pay."

'You included?'

"I have to keep up appearances. Crush or otherwise, if I catch you spying on me, I will blast you into orbit."

'You're no fun…'

"Oh trust me, the re-entry into the atmosphere will be more thrilling than a ride at Six Flags. How's that for FUN."

'Anyone tell you that you should be on those roasting comedy shows?'

"Kyd, I'm serious! If you violate these rules or create a problem for the Titans, Robin will have no problem locking you up for real this time."

'I'll do my best.'

"That's all I ask."

We kept walking until we came upon a more isolated room that was set apart from the others. Across from the powered doors was the elevator which took you down to the main ops room. To the east were the stairs leading up to the roof and volleyball court. Raven was the first to enter with me in tow and I was stunned at how large the room was. It was a large open room with the walls and ceiling painted with an outdoor nighttime theme that suited me perfectly. In the center was a king sized round bed with light purple colored linens and to the west was a balcony where you could overlook the bay and part of Jump City.

"This is where you will be staying."

'It's nice. I like it." On the coffee table I saw a silver heart shaped jewelry box. I surmised I was not the first to stay in this room.

"I assume someone used to live here before me?'

The atmosphere changed as soon as I touched on the subject. There was an awkward moment of silence and Raven's face said that she didn't want to talk about it.

"This used to be Terra's room. Now it's not."

'That's the girl that betrayed you guys, right?'

"It's complicated."

'That bad huh?'

"We took her in, made her family, and she betrayed us."

Raven recalled the memory with such blatancy I almost forgot she had emotions. I could tell this was a touchy subject for not just her, but for all the Titans.

"However, she later ended up betraying her mentor Slade as I'm sure you know. She ended up sacrificing herself to save all of us."

'But she's back now right? After all, Slade seemed to know about her whereabouts when he contacted you before Titanfall took place.'

"And that is where it gets complicated."

'Oh…'

We locked eyes and I could tell she was done talking about this.

"This was Terra's room, now it's not. This is where you'll be staying."

'Jeez I get it. Touchy subject. Point taken.'

I made my way over to the king-sized bed that was at my disposal and plopped myself onto it. Raven took a subtler approach as she joined me on the mattress and sat next to me with her legs crossed. I looked up at her and saw a faint pink come over her cheeks.

'What?' I asked.

"Nothing." She responded quickly.

Raven could be really distant at times. That mixed with her emotions and awkwardness, it occurred to me that she might not have very much experience with guys.

'You don't do this often do you?'

"Do what?"

'Bring a guy back to your place?' I teased.

If she had a faint blush earlier, she was full on tomato red now.

"Wha… I didn't bring you back to my place. All the Titans live here. And besides, technically this is your room. If anything, YOU brought me back to YOUR place!"

'Oh come on Raven. I can't be the first. Surely there must have been some other guys in your life at one point before you met me.'

I was such an idiot. Here I was with my love interest on the same bed and I had to bring up past relationships. I definitely wasn't getting any tonight, that's for sure! Raven's blush had since faded and she was staring intensely at the wall.

"There were a couple. Nothing came from them thought. There was this goth dude I met at a party. Good for conversation but wasn't very empathetic. Never dated him though. Then there was this more… serious commitment I made."

Okay, she had my attention. What crazy ex-boyfriend would I have to hunt down and beat up?

"From the moment we met, our relationship was a lie. His name was Rorek, or so I thought. The actual Rorek was a wizard who fought and imprisoned an ancient dragon named Malchior within the confines of a book I owned. I came to find this out as I finished the story and over time he earned my trust, maybe even, a little more than that. I eventually set out to find the ultimate spell which would break the curse of the book and free him from his prison. I was successful. But it wasn't Rorek whom I freed, it was Malchior. He deceived me and switched the names of the characters in the book and used my emotions to get his freedom. I had my heart broken that day."

What do you say in a situation like this? Sorry your first love interest was a complete let down? That really sucks? Like seriously, what would anyone say in a situation like this? I awkwardly put my hand on her shoulder in efforts to console her.

'Boys suck don't they?'

"He wasn't a boy, he was a dragon." She said matter a factly.

I stared at her and anime sweat dropped. She was absolutely right. That's what I get for trying to lighten the mood. Nonetheless, she covered the hand I had on her shoulder with hers.

"In retrospect, you haven't been that sucky. So I guess not all 'boys' are that bad right?"

'Guess not. I mean I did save your life multiple times. So I guess I am pretty great.'

The mood was totally ruined again. Besides the extra weight of my swollen head that grew a few sizes due to my ego, I could also feel the death glare Raven was giving me.

"Oh no. We are not having this conversation."

'I'm just saying…'

"Don't forget, half the life-threatening situations you saved me from were your fault to begin with. The Void, the Daemonites in The Bleed, and Slade's Immobilizer bomb! All of them had a common denominator; You."

Just like that I felt my head shrink back to normal. I felt sheepish and didn't really have anything to say. Again she was right. Those things were partially my fault. But I made up for my mistakes.

'Hey, it all worked out didn't it? And I did atone for every one of those mistakes, didn't I?'

Raven's scowl turned into an emotionless stare.

"Yea I guess you have. I mean here we are right? Alive and well."

'Yea, focus on that.'

I caressed the grey skinned mystic's cheek and leaned in for a kiss. It lasted about a minute. The entire time I was running every possible scenario in my mind should the situation escalate. There was no way Raven was going to make a move, meaning it was all up to me. It could end one of two ways; great passionate sex with the current girl of my dreams, or I would get beaten into a pulp for trying. Both my train of thought and our passionate moment were rudely interrupted by Cyborg walking into the room. So much for keeping up appearances.

There was good amount of awkward silence before anyone said anything. Cyborg had a look of shock on his face and Raven's grey cheeks were flushed pink. I on the other hand was irked.

'Ever hear of knocking tin man?'

"Errr, umm sorry Kyd. Just wanted to give you guys the news."

'News?'

"The metal on See-More's spine, I was able to salvage some of the circuitry inside it and put it back together."

'Circuitry?'

"It's a neurological transmitter. It's how Slade was controlling your friend."

"Robin kind of deduced that already. He figured there had to be a signal being received from an unknown location." Raven chimed in now having regained her usual composure. Seriously, no one tells me anything. You would think these types of facts would be need to know especially when it is YOUR friend who's in an infirmary bed.

"Correct, but up till now we had no way of locating the source of that signal. Now that the circuitry has been reconstructed, we can."

'Cyborg, are you saying…'

"Yea, we are one step closer to finding Slade, and your friends."