Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, WB and DC do. I do,
however, own Caspia and Breon, whom I borrowed from something else I've
written.
Notes: The third chapter in the Inner Demons story. This chapter was originally the beginning to the next one, but seemed a little too enclosed to be part of another, that and the next chapter would have been quite huge. Enjoy.
********************************************************************
Part 3: Bedside Manner
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
What's that? Raven thought as she slipped into consciousness. Her eyes were blurring and all she could see was white.
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
Whatever that is, its getting really annoying. She thought as she turned her head toward the noise. Everything was fuzzy, even her mind, so when she saw the large beeping machine with the moving line across it her first thought was 'Alarm Clock.'
Raven reached across her body to try and find the 'snooze' button.
"Ah!" Raven gasped as a stab pain shot through her hand. She jerked her body back flat on the bed. "Gah!" She cried again as a much worse, grinding pain ripped from between her shoulder blades.
Beepbeep... Beepbeep... Beepbeep...
She lay back on the bed, gasping until the throbbing pain turned into a dull ache. She felt a warm wetness radiate slowly from the painful spot on her back. She was bleeding again, but not very badly, it would stop on its own soon.
The shock had knocked her, rather rudely, completely back into reality. She now knew that she was in the Titans' Tower infirmary. It was a large room, not that there were any small ones in the tower, that was meant for healing minor injuries, but had the facilities to perform most surgeries if there somewhere there who was able. Raven knew that it was most likely Robin who had treated her, the boy had an amazing range of skills. Cyborg knew how to do it too, but Robin was better.
Raven didn't like this room. Among other things it smelled of antiseptics, everything was covered with harsh, white tiles that hurt the eyes and there were far too many sharp objects in here for anyone to be comfortable. The big issue with this room was that it reminded everyone of their mortality.
By and large, the only reason that anyone had ever come into the infirmary was to get some aspirin or to clean the place. The aspirin was now kept in the main bathroom.
Raven looked at her aching hand: An IV needle was stuck in it trailing a tube that attached her to a half-full bag of Ringer's Solution. Ignoring the pain, she pulled out the offending piece of metal.
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
Raven turned again to what she now recognized as a heart monitor. She tried turning it off with her powers, but found that they were drained. She turned it off by hand. Following the wire from it, she found the electrode taped to the ring finger of her other hand. She removed it.
Blessed silence.
Mindful of her back, Raven sat up very slowly, her single sheet falling away to reveal only a simple hospital gown and, thankfully, not more wires or tubes.
In the nearest corner of the room were two sets of her usual clothes. One set was neatly set out on a table: Clean, pressed and immaculate. The other hung from a hook: Covered in her blood and with a two inch wide, roughly circular, burn mark through the back of both parts clearly visible.
Still careful of her injuries, Raven stood up slowly, crossed the room and began to change. The familiarity of her own clothes comforted her and helped to ease the pain, even though the tight bodysuit pressed the dressings roughly against the wounds.
Still weak and stumbling occasionally, Raven walked to the door. She had to find the one of the others to find out what had happened.
And to thank them for saving me. Raven added mentally as she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.
****************************************************************
Robin couldn't sleep. That wasn't unusual, every time he had something that bothered him he would spend the night working it out in his head. In his short life he had spent more than his share of nights lying awake.
As it turned out, this was not a problem for Starfire. The young girl lay curled up beside him in what was rapidly becoming 'their' bed.
Robin had been staring into Starfire's face for the past few hours, and for once he was scared. He had no idea how far the relationship would go, or how long until it stopped. Life with Starfire. Life without her beside him. Both roads were ahead of him and both scared him more than he cared to admit.
He reached out and gently played with an errant strand of her hair. It felt like silk between his fingers.
Until it was no longer possible, or until she rejected him, Robin would stay with Starfire. Somehow, it was the only option. Theoretically, everything would be simpler without her. In practice, it would be more complicated. Everything he did would end: 'without Starfire.' He would fight crime without Starfire. He would eat, sleep and breathe with Starfire. The thought was almost physically painful.
Tonight though, it wasn't thoughts of Starfire that kept him awake, it was Raven. Two days ago the TV reception had cut out, so he, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg had gone up to the roof to fix it, expecting to find the dish moved a bit by the wind. Instead they'd found Raven, covered in blood, strangling a winged man, who was also covered in blood, with a piece of cable from the dish assembly. Both of them had passed out before they could offer any explanations.
Cyborg had treated Raven, who had suffered from a concussion, a really nasty burn and blood loss, not to mention a score of smaller cuts and bruises. She was in much better shape than the man who was with her.
Robin had taken care of the man. He had a concussion and blood loss, though both much more serious than Raven, plus most of the skin from his back had been left clinging to a wall. He also had something the scanners couldn't identify on the nerves in his legs. Whatever it was, it was paralyzing them.
Without knowing what had happened up there they couldn't give the man to the police, and he was going to take longer to heal than Raven, so they had kept him in the infirmary. Not one to take risks, however, Robin had bound him to the bed, although the wings had taken some creativity to hold down.
A strange tone from his night table pulled his attention away from Starfire's face. It meant that one of the two in the infirmary was awake. He's have to check up on them. Slowly, so as not to disturb his new girlfriend, he slipped from the bed and put on the cape, boots and mask that were all he removed at night.
"Robin?" Her voice startled him as he was about to open the door.
Robin was impressed. It was only their third night together and already she was able to wake up knowing he wasn't with her. He turned back to the bed, "It's okay, Star." He said gently, "I just have to check on Raven."
It took her a few tries, but eventually her sleepy, green on green eyes focused on him. "Do you desire companionship?"
Yes, Robin's mind said, but his mouth said, "Don't worry about it, Star." He leaned down and kissed her, "Go back to sleep."
Starfire yawned deeply, "Very Well." She said and closed her eyes. She was already asleep.
Robin made a point to learn that trick and stepped out to go see to Raven.
He found her before he reached the infirmary. She was leaning heavily against a wall for support and gasping for breath. "Raven!" He called out when he saw her and immediately slipped under her arm to support her.
Raven struggled slightly at the sudden closeness, "I'm fine, Robin..." She started, but a cold look from the boy silenced her. Robin understood her discomfort, but right now he didn't care; she was hurt and would be tended to.
They stumbled back to the infirmary, which was the closest place where she could sit down. Robin took Raven's cloak from her and had her lay back on one of the beds, not the one she had been occupying before as it had blood stains on it. Despite herself, Raven was grateful for the help and the bed under her.
"What happened to Caspia?" Raven asked as Robin was hanging up her cloak. She used a control button to raise the head of the bed so that she was sitting.
"The guy from the roof?" Robin asked, "He's over there." He pointed to a curtained off area of the infirmary.
Raven kicked herself mentally for not noticing earlier. The infirmary had five beds, one for each of them in case things got really bad, each with a curtain for some privacy. Now only four were in the open, the curtain drawn on the last bed.
"He's in pretty bad shape." Robin continued. He turned back to Raven. "So what happened up there?"
Raven shrugged, wincing a little at the pain in her back, "I don't really know." She looked at the curtain, "He attacked me, but I don't think he wanted to."
"Slade." Robin said harshly, his eyes narrowing.
"Maybe," Raven said carefully, "But maybe not." Robin looked at her as though he were insulted. "Slade's not the only one who can control people, Robin." She waited until Robin's nod showed that he was open to a new possibility. "Besides, he was after me."
Robin nodded again, almost an apology. He knew full well that his obsession with Slade was a problem and he'd have to deal with it.
There was a silence after that, not quite awkward, just empty. Robin eventually broke it. "Something happened to his legs," He said, referring to the man at the end of the room. "do you know how to fix it?"
Raven looked over to the curtain again, then gingerly stepped down off the bed. Still weak from her walk she stumbled as she touched the ground, but waved off any help from Robin. Even so, he moved in front of her and pulled back the curtain for her.
As she limped up beside him Raven noticed that Caspia, or so she'd been told his name was, seemed so much smaller now. Still in his winged form, he was secured to the bed with wide leather cuffs on his wrists and ankles that would probably held Cyborg down. His wings had been folded tightly, then tied shut with a cable which was lashed to the wall behind the bed. What she could see of his body sticking out from under the sheet had jagged scars covering it.
He looked pale.
Ignoring the incongruency of his thick, clawed hands Raven looked at his legs. There was nothing there to be see, but she sensed the problem easily. Her and Caspia's powers cancelled each other and when she had pulled him in, she must have forced his out and replaced them. She knew that her power flowed through her nerves, and could feel that his was in his blood; when he, for lack of a better term, removed himself from her grip, the blood must have returned and trapped her energy inside of him.
Raven placed her hands a few inches over his knees and concentrated. The fight and subsequent healing had left her very drained, but she was certain that she could manage this. She felt for the taste of her own energy, grasped it and pulled.
Robin didn't know what Raven was doing, but he knew that Raven had the ability to heal. Nonetheless, he was surprised to see wisps of black smoke leak from the man's legs and disappear into Raven's hands.
When she was done, she simply looked down to make sure she had all of it and stumbled back to her bed, staggering more than before, but still waving off any help from Robin. Raven lay back on the bed, again grateful for its support, even if it didn't show on her face.
She looked at Robin, who obviously felt rather useless, "He can walk now, don't worry."
As she lowered the head back down, Robin asked, "So, Raven, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Go back to Starfire, Robin." Raven said in a dismissive deadpan. "I'll be fine."
Robin reluctantly left her alone. As Raven succumbed to her exhaustion she knew that tomorrow, whenever she woke up, her powers would be back fully and she could begin healing herself. A few days and she would be fine again.
Raven looked over to where the curtain was still pulled back and she could see Caspia's bed.
And maybe some answers. She thought to herself.
***********************************************************************
Again, kind of small, but too big to be part of another chapter. The next one will be dark, I swear.
Notes: The third chapter in the Inner Demons story. This chapter was originally the beginning to the next one, but seemed a little too enclosed to be part of another, that and the next chapter would have been quite huge. Enjoy.
********************************************************************
Part 3: Bedside Manner
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
What's that? Raven thought as she slipped into consciousness. Her eyes were blurring and all she could see was white.
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
Whatever that is, its getting really annoying. She thought as she turned her head toward the noise. Everything was fuzzy, even her mind, so when she saw the large beeping machine with the moving line across it her first thought was 'Alarm Clock.'
Raven reached across her body to try and find the 'snooze' button.
"Ah!" Raven gasped as a stab pain shot through her hand. She jerked her body back flat on the bed. "Gah!" She cried again as a much worse, grinding pain ripped from between her shoulder blades.
Beepbeep... Beepbeep... Beepbeep...
She lay back on the bed, gasping until the throbbing pain turned into a dull ache. She felt a warm wetness radiate slowly from the painful spot on her back. She was bleeding again, but not very badly, it would stop on its own soon.
The shock had knocked her, rather rudely, completely back into reality. She now knew that she was in the Titans' Tower infirmary. It was a large room, not that there were any small ones in the tower, that was meant for healing minor injuries, but had the facilities to perform most surgeries if there somewhere there who was able. Raven knew that it was most likely Robin who had treated her, the boy had an amazing range of skills. Cyborg knew how to do it too, but Robin was better.
Raven didn't like this room. Among other things it smelled of antiseptics, everything was covered with harsh, white tiles that hurt the eyes and there were far too many sharp objects in here for anyone to be comfortable. The big issue with this room was that it reminded everyone of their mortality.
By and large, the only reason that anyone had ever come into the infirmary was to get some aspirin or to clean the place. The aspirin was now kept in the main bathroom.
Raven looked at her aching hand: An IV needle was stuck in it trailing a tube that attached her to a half-full bag of Ringer's Solution. Ignoring the pain, she pulled out the offending piece of metal.
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
Raven turned again to what she now recognized as a heart monitor. She tried turning it off with her powers, but found that they were drained. She turned it off by hand. Following the wire from it, she found the electrode taped to the ring finger of her other hand. She removed it.
Blessed silence.
Mindful of her back, Raven sat up very slowly, her single sheet falling away to reveal only a simple hospital gown and, thankfully, not more wires or tubes.
In the nearest corner of the room were two sets of her usual clothes. One set was neatly set out on a table: Clean, pressed and immaculate. The other hung from a hook: Covered in her blood and with a two inch wide, roughly circular, burn mark through the back of both parts clearly visible.
Still careful of her injuries, Raven stood up slowly, crossed the room and began to change. The familiarity of her own clothes comforted her and helped to ease the pain, even though the tight bodysuit pressed the dressings roughly against the wounds.
Still weak and stumbling occasionally, Raven walked to the door. She had to find the one of the others to find out what had happened.
And to thank them for saving me. Raven added mentally as she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.
****************************************************************
Robin couldn't sleep. That wasn't unusual, every time he had something that bothered him he would spend the night working it out in his head. In his short life he had spent more than his share of nights lying awake.
As it turned out, this was not a problem for Starfire. The young girl lay curled up beside him in what was rapidly becoming 'their' bed.
Robin had been staring into Starfire's face for the past few hours, and for once he was scared. He had no idea how far the relationship would go, or how long until it stopped. Life with Starfire. Life without her beside him. Both roads were ahead of him and both scared him more than he cared to admit.
He reached out and gently played with an errant strand of her hair. It felt like silk between his fingers.
Until it was no longer possible, or until she rejected him, Robin would stay with Starfire. Somehow, it was the only option. Theoretically, everything would be simpler without her. In practice, it would be more complicated. Everything he did would end: 'without Starfire.' He would fight crime without Starfire. He would eat, sleep and breathe with Starfire. The thought was almost physically painful.
Tonight though, it wasn't thoughts of Starfire that kept him awake, it was Raven. Two days ago the TV reception had cut out, so he, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg had gone up to the roof to fix it, expecting to find the dish moved a bit by the wind. Instead they'd found Raven, covered in blood, strangling a winged man, who was also covered in blood, with a piece of cable from the dish assembly. Both of them had passed out before they could offer any explanations.
Cyborg had treated Raven, who had suffered from a concussion, a really nasty burn and blood loss, not to mention a score of smaller cuts and bruises. She was in much better shape than the man who was with her.
Robin had taken care of the man. He had a concussion and blood loss, though both much more serious than Raven, plus most of the skin from his back had been left clinging to a wall. He also had something the scanners couldn't identify on the nerves in his legs. Whatever it was, it was paralyzing them.
Without knowing what had happened up there they couldn't give the man to the police, and he was going to take longer to heal than Raven, so they had kept him in the infirmary. Not one to take risks, however, Robin had bound him to the bed, although the wings had taken some creativity to hold down.
A strange tone from his night table pulled his attention away from Starfire's face. It meant that one of the two in the infirmary was awake. He's have to check up on them. Slowly, so as not to disturb his new girlfriend, he slipped from the bed and put on the cape, boots and mask that were all he removed at night.
"Robin?" Her voice startled him as he was about to open the door.
Robin was impressed. It was only their third night together and already she was able to wake up knowing he wasn't with her. He turned back to the bed, "It's okay, Star." He said gently, "I just have to check on Raven."
It took her a few tries, but eventually her sleepy, green on green eyes focused on him. "Do you desire companionship?"
Yes, Robin's mind said, but his mouth said, "Don't worry about it, Star." He leaned down and kissed her, "Go back to sleep."
Starfire yawned deeply, "Very Well." She said and closed her eyes. She was already asleep.
Robin made a point to learn that trick and stepped out to go see to Raven.
He found her before he reached the infirmary. She was leaning heavily against a wall for support and gasping for breath. "Raven!" He called out when he saw her and immediately slipped under her arm to support her.
Raven struggled slightly at the sudden closeness, "I'm fine, Robin..." She started, but a cold look from the boy silenced her. Robin understood her discomfort, but right now he didn't care; she was hurt and would be tended to.
They stumbled back to the infirmary, which was the closest place where she could sit down. Robin took Raven's cloak from her and had her lay back on one of the beds, not the one she had been occupying before as it had blood stains on it. Despite herself, Raven was grateful for the help and the bed under her.
"What happened to Caspia?" Raven asked as Robin was hanging up her cloak. She used a control button to raise the head of the bed so that she was sitting.
"The guy from the roof?" Robin asked, "He's over there." He pointed to a curtained off area of the infirmary.
Raven kicked herself mentally for not noticing earlier. The infirmary had five beds, one for each of them in case things got really bad, each with a curtain for some privacy. Now only four were in the open, the curtain drawn on the last bed.
"He's in pretty bad shape." Robin continued. He turned back to Raven. "So what happened up there?"
Raven shrugged, wincing a little at the pain in her back, "I don't really know." She looked at the curtain, "He attacked me, but I don't think he wanted to."
"Slade." Robin said harshly, his eyes narrowing.
"Maybe," Raven said carefully, "But maybe not." Robin looked at her as though he were insulted. "Slade's not the only one who can control people, Robin." She waited until Robin's nod showed that he was open to a new possibility. "Besides, he was after me."
Robin nodded again, almost an apology. He knew full well that his obsession with Slade was a problem and he'd have to deal with it.
There was a silence after that, not quite awkward, just empty. Robin eventually broke it. "Something happened to his legs," He said, referring to the man at the end of the room. "do you know how to fix it?"
Raven looked over to the curtain again, then gingerly stepped down off the bed. Still weak from her walk she stumbled as she touched the ground, but waved off any help from Robin. Even so, he moved in front of her and pulled back the curtain for her.
As she limped up beside him Raven noticed that Caspia, or so she'd been told his name was, seemed so much smaller now. Still in his winged form, he was secured to the bed with wide leather cuffs on his wrists and ankles that would probably held Cyborg down. His wings had been folded tightly, then tied shut with a cable which was lashed to the wall behind the bed. What she could see of his body sticking out from under the sheet had jagged scars covering it.
He looked pale.
Ignoring the incongruency of his thick, clawed hands Raven looked at his legs. There was nothing there to be see, but she sensed the problem easily. Her and Caspia's powers cancelled each other and when she had pulled him in, she must have forced his out and replaced them. She knew that her power flowed through her nerves, and could feel that his was in his blood; when he, for lack of a better term, removed himself from her grip, the blood must have returned and trapped her energy inside of him.
Raven placed her hands a few inches over his knees and concentrated. The fight and subsequent healing had left her very drained, but she was certain that she could manage this. She felt for the taste of her own energy, grasped it and pulled.
Robin didn't know what Raven was doing, but he knew that Raven had the ability to heal. Nonetheless, he was surprised to see wisps of black smoke leak from the man's legs and disappear into Raven's hands.
When she was done, she simply looked down to make sure she had all of it and stumbled back to her bed, staggering more than before, but still waving off any help from Robin. Raven lay back on the bed, again grateful for its support, even if it didn't show on her face.
She looked at Robin, who obviously felt rather useless, "He can walk now, don't worry."
As she lowered the head back down, Robin asked, "So, Raven, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Go back to Starfire, Robin." Raven said in a dismissive deadpan. "I'll be fine."
Robin reluctantly left her alone. As Raven succumbed to her exhaustion she knew that tomorrow, whenever she woke up, her powers would be back fully and she could begin healing herself. A few days and she would be fine again.
Raven looked over to where the curtain was still pulled back and she could see Caspia's bed.
And maybe some answers. She thought to herself.
***********************************************************************
Again, kind of small, but too big to be part of another chapter. The next one will be dark, I swear.