Chapter Thirty Six: Analysis

"So, you only did schoolwork in your spare time?" Cyborg asked, staring at me with his eye all buggy, as if it were some huge revelation, or, more accurately, as if I hadn't repeated myself four times right before that. "No going to the movies, no hanging out at the mall, no chilling at a restaurant, nothing like that?"

"For the last time, no," I growled, letting out an extremely irritated sigh through my nose. "I focused on getting my schoolwork done and then my extra credit work. I had goals that I couldn't have reached any other way, so that's what I did in my spare time. Now, are you finished with all these pointless questions?"

"We can be, if you really want," he said smoothly. "Gotta say, though, it'll be boring if I do."

I mentally rolled my eyes, clenching my jaw in irritation.

As if the first five hours of sitting here doing nothing wasn't boring, I sarcastically thought to myself, and I meant it, too. I'd been strapped to a strange medical table in his high-tech bedroom for most of the day, with nothing to do but stare up at the ceiling or listen to him mutter or talk to himself.

Medical wires stuck out of pads that had been placed all over my body, from my feet, to the muscles of my non-broken leg, to my stomach, chest, shoulders, back, neck, cheeks, temples, and even my forehead, all of them taking readings of my body's inner workings and basically running a diagnostic test run on me.

According to what I'd heard so far, the computer I'd been hooked up to could tell them everything they wanted to know about my powers, from what fueled them to the overall strength level of my abilities, to the weaknesses and advantages. Unfortunately, getting answers also meant I had to deal with the discomfort of being unable to move, since I had to remain still or the scan process would take even longer.

Worse, I was itchy.

Very itchy.

I'm allergic to certain types of latex and adhesives, and since there were very little places of me that didn't have adhesive sticky pads sticking to my skin, I felt like bugs were crawling all over me. Cyborg hadn't been lying when he'd said that this was going to be the most boring day of my life.

I let out a sigh through my nose, wanting nothing more than to get up and move around. A cold silence hung in the still air of the wide-open dark room. One screen was alit with just enough light to reflect off the one watching it, Cyborg. Different numbers and symbols flashed through a continuous loop in the silence.

He watched, sharp brown eye following one strain of text in particular.

"We're almost done," he said calmly. "I'd give it about ten more minutes, tops."

I let out a groan of relief.

"Thank God," I grumbled, closing my eyes; not even a second after I said it, a whisking noise broke the silence like a shrill scream. Light, soft but bright enough to see by, filled the room, framing the shadow of the one who now stood in the doorway.

Irritation instantly flooded through me when I saw the familiar domino mask.

"It's almost dinner time, Cyborg," Robin said a little crisply, although a barely noticeable edge of concern lined his even tone. "Anything to report?"

"Only that we're almost done here, Rob," he said, giving a thumbs-up. "The scan is about ten minutes from completion."

"I see. Well, the food will be waiting when you two are done," the Titan leader said, giving a curt nod; his head swiveled to face me, but I made a point of staring at the ceiling to avoid his stare. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine," I muttered. "I'm itchy and irritable, but fine."

A single eyebrow rose in my direction.

"Itchy?"

"Yes, itchy!" I snapped, turning a sullen stare on him. "I'm allergic to latex and a few types of adhesive, and these sticky pads are making me seriously miserable-"

"Yo, hold up!" Cyborg instantly said, turning to look at me with wide eyes. "You're allergic to these medical pads?!"

"Yeah," I deadpanned, frowning, "but-"

"Why didn't you say anything?!" he cried, lunging to his feet in anger. "I would have switched them out-"

"It's not a big deal!" I snarled, and he fell silent, staring at me in surprise; I took a deep breath and calmed myself before stiffly adding, "I'm itchy, and my skin will be a little irritated for a few days, but I'm a big girl. I can handle it since a little discomfort has absolutely nothing on how stressed I've been not knowing squat about my powers."

My rational retort had them flummoxed for a few moments,.

"That may be so, but in the future you should still tell us things like what you're allergic to since there are alternatives," Robin said a little distastefully, then turned and nodded at Cyborg. "I'll ask Raven to take a look at her skin to make sure there's no serious inflammation once you're done. Oh, and I made cheeseburgers for dinner."

"Awww, yeah!" Cyborg howled, grinning like a wild idiot. "Boo yah! Your cheeseburgers are the bomb!"

Robin smirked a little as he gave a clipped, "I know."

Then he was gone and the door whisked shut with another crisp hiss.

I remained silent when Cyborg went back to clacking away at his computer, wanting nothing more than to take a nap. I say want, but I really mean craved since the thought of closing my eyes and drifting off felt like the most appealing thing in the world.

I closed my eyes for a little while and I was actually half asleep when my ear gave a frantic twitch, the sound of the chair squeaking as it swiveled was evident and loud. I tried to ignore it, I really did, but you know what they say about curiosity and cats.

Cyborg was staring at me.

I just knew he was staring at me.

Some distant, calculative gaze. I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my face, his emotions rolling off him in waves as each trickle slowly seeped into my skin, unveiling insecurities I had thought were firmly buried in my past.

It was irritating, to say the least. With an irate glare, I decided to figure out what was going on using my patented methods - effervescent witticism.

"Could you maybe put a stop to the staring?" I finally asked, not opening my eyes. "It's getting hard to think while I'm drowning in the feeling of your eyes on me."

There was a sigh, a mix of shock and amusement, if sighs could really hold so much, which I suppose they do. The humming of the electronics around me made my skin tingle, and the whirring of the computer fan filled the silence with soft white noise.

"That obvious, huh?"

His deep voice suddenly seemed bland, lacking the enthusiasm I'd heard thus far. I actually had to stop myself from frowning as a knee-jerk reaction.

"I know when people are watching me," I said after a few choice seconds. "The sixth sense thing people talk about? Not just a cool thought. I can feel it when there are eyes are on me... and it always makes me uncomfortable."

A small chuckle left the mouth of the boy sitting beside me before he said, "so you're a psychic now, too, huh?"

"No, I'm just used to being surrounded by people I don't trust," I snorted. "It's… it's just a feeling. Sort of like an intuition. Instinct, maybe. People who feel weak, or afraid, or vulnerable tend to be far more aware of their surroundings, some even subconsciously."

His gaze was now fully on me, watching me like a hawk, and if I were to be entirely honest it was beginning to grate on my mood. I could practically feel the fight or flight building inside me; my lips twitched uneasily and, of course, he noticed.

"Sorry," he suddenly said, and I heard the chair squeak as he leaned back. "The data this scan's collected just has me worried."

My heart sank involuntarily, but I kept my face blank.

"Worried, why?" I deadpanned, finally opening my eyes and looking at him head-on; his eyes were serious and the look on his face was even more than that. The tenseness to his mouth was unmistakable.

"For your safety, and the safety of everyone around you," he said after a second, but he was speaking carefully, as if he were calculating his words before speaking them. "The one thing we were already sure of was that your power is extremely dangerous, and somewhat uncontrolled. The scan confirmed that you're going to need a lot of help."

I blinked at him.

"And that worries you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "What are you holding back."

The human half of his face twitched and he looked away, sighing through his nose.

"The scan isn't finished, Sunshine," he said, dodging my question. "I was just thinking."

"Oh, jeez, don't hurt yourself," I drawled, rolling my eyes; I got a disarming grin for that one, but it quickly faded. Concern slid through me, coupled with a wash of anxiety. "Is there something wrong with me because of my powers?"

He stared at me for a second, then quipped, "why do you ask?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said sweetly, giving him an acidic smile. "Maybe because I feel like I've been locked in a freezer my whole life when I'm not using them?"

To my surprise, he nodded a little reassuringly.

"I've heard some people have that symptom when dealing with meta powers," he said, turning and looking at the screen; he blinked, then nodded. "All right, we're done. You can take off the sticky pads while I forward the results to the team."

"Thank God," I muttered under my breath, ripping the damn things off with gusto; my skin stung and itched in a way that couldn't even be soothed by scratching. Hair fell across my face as I sat up and stretched, arching to release the stiffness of my muscles.

Cyborg rose as I was doing so and motioned for me to follow him. "Come on, Sunshine, it's dinner time. There's also a lot to talk about."

I wordlessly stood up and hobbled after him when he opened the sliding door and made his way out into the hall, but then, all of a sudden he stopped and turned around. I almost bumped into him since the movement was so quick, and looked up to meet his eyes. Cyborg was a tall guy... much taller than me, maybe around six-foot-three.

I raised an eyebrow when he eyed me up and down.

"What?" I asked, scowling. "If you have something to say, spit it out already."

"Sorry," he countered, frowning. "I'm just a little confused why you don't seem bothered by me. Most people who meet me for the first time tend to stare a lot, or ask questions about my body, and I guess I've been waiting that whole time for at least one."

I gave him a dead fish stare and shifted my weight.

"That's what's been eating away at you?" I deadpanned. "Really?"

"Well, yeah," he said a little airily. "It's just a bit strange, is all."

"What, that I chose to be respectful and not ask why you've got a robotic exoskeleton and computerized prosthetic limbs?" I asked, but when his eye widened I winced, since the jab had been cruel, even for me. "That came out meaner than I intended it to."

"Yeah, it did," he said flatly, frowning; I sighed through my nose, then baldly met his stare, figuring I shouldn't beat around the bush.

"Forgive me for being blunt," I said slowly, "but the reason I didn't ask you about... why you are the way you are... is because I don't have interest in getting to know you."

He blinked, and his face went slack, settling into a more neutral expression.

"I get it, but I don't think you really have much of a choice anymore," he quietly informed me, turning back around. "Not after what the scan revealed, anyway."

I did a double take, wondering what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but I decidedly said nothing even though my first instinct was to demand an answer. I figured I would find out soon enough anyway and hobbled after him in silence until we made it to the main living area with its half-circle couch.

Upon entering, I was momentarily blinded by the setting California sun shining directly into my eyes through the enormous windows spanning the wall. I squinted until my eyes adjusted to the brilliant orange sky hovering over the ocean, then turned to see Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Robin all sitting at a table with tons of food piled before them.

"Yo, we're back! Scan's finally finished!" Cyborg greeted, and everyone looked up; I, on the other hand, was feeling a little taken aback by the sheer amount of burgers, soda, and potato chips they had spread out across the table top. It was like a burger feast!

There was enough food for at least fifty people, if not more!

"Cyborg, report! What's the verdict?" Robin sternly asked, then paused and took a deep bite of his burger, which was being clutched between two pea-green gloves; around a mouthful of food he added, "Er, take a seat and get settled in first. Dinner turned out better than I thought it was going to, so we might as well talk while we eat."

"Don't mind if I do!" Cyborg laughed, flopping down and piling ten burgers and a mountain of potato chips onto a plate; I jumped when he inhaled two of them within ten seconds, then moved onto the third and swallowed it whole. "Man, you outdid yourself!"

"Yes, Robin, tonight's meal has turned out most wonderful!" Starfire graciously chimed in, even as she dumped half a container of mustard onto her own pile of burgers. I jumped when Cyborg let out a hearty belch, then looked at Beast Boy to see him eating from a completely different pile of patties, lost in his own little world.

Raven had a book suffused in ringing black energy hovering in front of her face, and ever so often a similarly floating burger would have a chunk ripped off. I watched as one such chunk floated behind the book and vanished, presumably into her mouth.

"What are you waiting for?" Robin suddenly asked, breaking me out of my stupor; I turned to see him staring at me. "Go ahead and take a seat. Eat whatever you want."

I blinked, then tentatively made my way over and sat down on Cyborg's right, which was directly across from Raven and Beast Boy. I took a paper plate and set two burgers and a small pile of sour cream and onion potato chips on top of it.

I admit, it did look delicious, the meat was glistening with juices and melted cheese...

"Her powers are above a class five," Cyborg suddenly said, and everyone sitting around the table went completely still; all sounds of chewing, laughing, page turning, and overall movement disappeared. My hair stood on end at the unexpected stillness.

Above a class five? I wondered. What's that mean?

I looked up after a moment to see Beast Boy gawking at me; his green eyes were wide, ears sticking straight out. Beside him, Raven had lowered the book and was now staring at Cyborg with unblinking eyes, but there was no expression on her pale face.

Starfire, like me, seemed to be extremely confused, but Robin had gone rigid.

It seemed to take him a moment to find his voice, but when he did, it was tight.

"That's not possible, Cyborg," he said quietly. "It can't be."

"The scanner doesn't lie, man," the bionic black boy said. "I ran it twice, just to be sure, but both times I got the same results. Her range of ability is unlike anything we've ever seen, and worse, she's an empathic post psychological-focus case."

"Cyborg, are you sure?" Robin asked, face turning an odd shade of white.

"Yup."

"Dude!" Beast Boy instantly breathed, green eyes glimmering. "That's awesome!"

"No, it's dangerous," Cyborg scolded, giving him a grim look before turning his attention back on Robin; I glanced at him worriedly, but he intentionally avoided my gaze. "I'm gonna be honest, man... I don't think we're capable of training her the way she needs."

There it was. The inevitable rejection I'd been expecting. I felt myself deflate internally and started eating, figuring I might as well be full since I had no idea when my next hot meal was going to be. I might as well make the most of it.

"Friends, I am afraid I find myself confused," Starfire said sweetly. "What is this class five you speak of? Why do you believe we are incapable of helping our new friend?"

"It's like this, Starfire," Robin said slowly, setting down his burger. "On Earth, there are five classes that categorize metahumans. Class one is for people who have relatively harmless abilities... physical mutations, and whatnot. Class two is for people with abilities that are potentially harmful. Beast Boy, for example, is a class two."

"I am?" the green-skinned boy asked, looking surprised; he pointed at himself and looked around. "How am I only a class two?! I can turn into any animal in the world!"

"Simple," Raven said, eyes flicking to look right at me. "The classes aren't a scale for impressiveness or strength, they're a scale for the most dangerous abilities."

"Oh," Starfire said, blinking; then her eyes flew open wide and she gasped, high-pitched and full of shock. She clamped both hands to her mouth. "Does this mean that her powers are-"

"Dangerous," Raven, to everyone's shock, finished. "Dangerous enough to level this entire city if she so much as loses her temper at the wrong time."

I choked on my burger and coughed, beating on my chest.

I swallowed it down after a second, then looked at her incredulously.

"Me?!" I asked, gawking at her. "Level the entire city?! No offense, but you're nuts!"

"No... she's right," Cyborg said, and I turned to look at him; his face was stony. "You can create thunderstorms in a region that normally doesn't have very many at the flip of a dime, and you can even go further and conjure tornadoes. You could easily level Jump City if you ever lost your temper for real."

Dread flooded through me and I broke out into a cold sweat.

This was news to me.

"Are you serious?" I whispered, fear making my throat close up. "Am I really that dangerous?! How can that be possible?! I don't get it, how does that even work?!"

"Cyborg, I need you to explain this in detail," Robin said, leaning forward. "How is she able to manipulate the weather, and why is the reach of her ability so large?"

"It's complicated," Cyborg said, shaking his head; he scarfed down another burger and said around mouthful of chewing, "according to the scan, her body is constantly emitting a magnetized electrical field like the ends of a magnet, and it fluctuates with her mood."

"Oh!" Starfire gasped, instantly hovering out of her seat. "Her power sounds like it is controlled much the same way that I am able to fly! This is wonderful news, is it not?!"

"You have the right idea, Star," he said, nodding, "but with Sally, the field doesn't affect her own body like it does with you. Instead, when she's stressed, it expands and starts shooting magnetized particles into the atmosphere, which then creates a storm."

"So," Robin said in a low tone, "she's capable of sending electromagnetic waves into the air without even being outside... creating storms that can cover half the county."

My hair stood on end and I clenched my fists, terror making me shake, shiver, twist.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?!" I cried, drawing their attention. "How do I keep from making storms?! What do I do?! How do I keep it under control?!"

A heavy hand came down on the top of my head and forcibly twisted it to look at the windows; my heart flew up my throat and I froze, staring in stunned disbelief at the sky. Where a beautiful sunset rimmed with silver-lined clouds had been only moments before were dark thunderheads that seemed to be sliding across the sky in a dark wave.

"You could start by not freaking out," Cyborg suggested simply; a bolt of lightning arched out on the ocean, brilliant and terrible, making me flinch. "That'd be a good place to start."

"He's right. You need to calm down," Raven said, and I turned to see her watching me. "Your powers are fueled by your emotions. If you regain calmness, the storm will stop growing and then you'll be able to focus long enough to make it disperse."

I don't know why, but for whatever reason her assessment made the knot of fear in my stomach and chest loosen immensely. I took a deep breath as Cyborg removed his hand from my hair, closing my eyes and trying to slow my racing heart, to relax.

Once I was calmer, I focused like the previous times, picturing a twister in my head and willing the clouds to dissolve, for the sun to come back, for the beautiful oranges and reds and grays to shine through. Warmth trickled through me as I did so, and I saw brightness starting to shine through my eyelids even before I opened them.

The sunset was back, although the cloud shapes were now far different than before.

There were more of them, too, some still dark and full of rainwater.

"So, what's the game plan gonna be?" Cyborg asked, and everyone looked at Robin, even me, because I had no idea what to think or feel. The Titan leader seemed to be deep in thought, arms folded, chin tucked to his collarbone, brow knitted.

"I don't know," he eventually said, "but, for the time being, I think the first course of action should be to help her keep control of her feelings, but the only person here who I think might be capable of doing that safely is Raven."

"Really?!" Beast Boy asked, looking a little skeptical. "Wouldn't Star be the better option this time around? She said it herself that the way she flies is similar to how Sally creates storms, with the magnetic field-thingy and all."

"Yes, friend, this is very much true," Starfire said, then thoughtfully added, "but I fear her abilities are more similar to Raven's in nature than my own. When I fly, I am feeling great deals of joy, limitless emotion, but I have never had my flight... lash out."

"What about you, Raven?" Robin asked, and I turned to look at her, numb, unable to process anything like a normal human. "Do you think you're up to the task? I won't force you on this, and I want to hear your input."

The hooded girl didn't respond, all she did was stare at me, face cast in shadow. Aside from her pale mouth, only the glints of her bright eyes could be seen within the confines of her deep blue cowl. We stared at each other for a long time, silently.

All I heard was the breathing of the other Titans.

"Impossible."

"What?" I gasped, shocked by the rejection. "What do you mean 'impossible'?"

"For me to teach her how to gain the same sort of self control I have would require years of commitment and practice," Raven said stoically, finally looking at Robin. "I, nor any other person in the world, could teach her what she needs to know under the current circumstances."

"And what are the current circumstances?" Robin asked, brows raising. "Is there something holding you back?"

"Until I'm certain she'll be staying here, I can't," she said simply, and with a ringing black aura, her book rose back in front of her face. "I don't like wasting needless time and energy, and the amount of effort needed to educate her will be massive. Unless its certain she'll be staying, I refuse."

"Raven, you're the only person here who can teach her," Robin said with a hint of desperation in his voice. "All you'd have to do is educate her with the basics."

"No. My answer is the same."

"Raven."

"No."

"What if... I stay? If, I mean, I'm allowed to?"

Everyone looked at me in surprise, and the book lowered slightly, revealing two barely-visible eyes. I didn't know where the question had come from, it had been out of my mouth before I'd checked it, but Starfire's green eyes shone brilliantly with delight.

"We would welcome you with open arms!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands before her, beaming at me excitedly. "It would be a most joyful occasion!"

I awkwardly cleared my throat.

"If I stay," I said, the words feeling foreign in my mouth, "and... decide to help you guys with whatever it is you do... would you... help me get my powers under control? Would you teach me?"

The book lowered a little farther.

"That depends on you," she said flatly. "Are you willing to steer the course of your life in that particularly direction? It would mean shifting your future from music to becoming a vigilante like all of us here. Your life would no longer be yours. It would belong to every other person around you. Can you handle living like that? Without backing down?"

I thought about that silently for a moment, uncertain, because I didn't know.

I wasn't hero material, I wasn't a good person, and I sure as fuck wasn't selfless enough to dedicate my entire life to a bunch of strangers I didn't even know... but at the same time, I wasn't stupid enough to walk away and risk putting millions of people at risk.

I may not have been a good person, but I was by no means a fucking terrorist. I'd already destroyed half a neighborhood in only seven minutes on accident... I couldn't let that ever happen again. If it did, someone would get hurt or die, that much I was sure of. It had been nothing short of a miracle that nobody had been killed the first time.

"I don't know," I eventually admitted, then clenched my jaw, "but I'm stubborn enough to try if it means I can keep myself from accidentally destroying the city or hurting people with my power. If you're willing to teach me what I need to know, I will stay here for as long as I have to, even if it means I have to become a Teen Titan myself."

The floating book came to rest on the table and she looked at me carefully, as if probing my mind to find if I were really serious and if she really thought I would have a chance at learning from her. Her eyes were unfathomable, two wet glints that probed me without feeling, without inflection, without any form of coddling or sugar coating.

"Controlling abilities of your caliber is a feat that many would not be able to learn from someone else, even myself," she said in a calm, rasping drawl. "Empathic powers such as yours will require complete concentration and inner tranquility, which is something that I'm not sure you can achieve considering how many insecurities you carry."

"Not to mention her temper," I heard Robin - who I had completely forgotten was in the room- mutter; I glared at him and he looked back just as stiffly, but Raven's posture seemed to relax slightly.

"If you stay, I will teach you," she said; there was something in her voice that I knew I should have understood, but she continued on without pausing. "Learning to control your powers will be hard and it will take a lot of energy from you - you will find yourself physically and mentally drained for a long time. Is that understood?"

"Yeah," I said, heart twisting into a knot. "It is."

Raven gave a single slow blink, then those eyes flicked to look at Robin.

"There you have it," she droned, and with a sizzling black ring, another bite of cheeseburger floated into her soft mouth.