Disclaimer:
Raven: Thankfully, this freak of nature doesn't own us.
Rory: holds BB on a leash :
Raven: I said, thankfully, this freak of nature doesn't own us!
Rory: Darn it, she noticed: drops leash :
BB: THANK YOU SO MUCH RAVEN: hugs Raven :
Raven: What did I tell you about hugging?
NOTES
Rory: Okay. Anyway. Welcome to Thicker Than Water part eight. Oooooh. This will be FUN.
REVIEWS
Beep…beep…beep…
Starfire gazed sadly at the beeping heart monitor in the Med Room of the Tower. With the help of her three friends, she had managed to get all the Titans released and into the care center. None of them were looking good. Robin had a concussion. Bumble Bee wore an oxygen mask and was currently helping Cyborg reprogram himself. Beast Boy was helping Mas y Menos rub ointment on their wounds. Starfire had been left to care for Raven, who was having trouble healing. Even with Beast Boy's help to breathe, the girl still had been lacking oxygen to her brain, and Starfire was the only one who had qualification to help her.
How she wished Robin was awake! He could do anything. But the concussion had him out cold in the next bed.
"Why has Slade done this to us?" she whispered sadly, watching the spike of Raven's heartbeat slowly recede. Her eyes widened. Swallowing, Starfire took the oxygen tank and held the mask to her friend's face.
Raven shifted restlessly, then relaxed. The heartbeat began to thud again.
The Tamaranian let out a deep breath, relieved. She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Beast Boy was smiling down at her wearily. "Want a break?" he asked.
She nodded and moved to sit on Robin's bed. Her small green friend pulled across the curtain, and Starfire was thankful for the privacy. She rubbed Robin's hand, a tear forming in her eye. "I do not understand, Robin," she said softly. "What does Slade want with us? Why has he done this? He has never caused so much damage before, and he could have very easily. Slade wanted you to be safe, always!"
Tears dripped freely down her face now. She rubbed them away with frustration. "I do not know why he has done this. He – Slade wants me to become his apprentice, as he wished for you, once. I cannot see why." Starfire sobbed. "Robin! He almost killed you. Why?"
"Star…fire…"
Lime-green eyes widened, and Starfire lifted her head to look at her friend. Robin's face had turned to hers. "Star…"
"You are awake," she breathed. "You are all right!"
His face was overcome by shock when she threw her arms around him.
"Bee," Cyborg said quietly, "Did that attack seem – not right to you?"
The girl nodded. "That wasn't Slade's style," she said softly. "You know that, and I know that. It isn't his way to trick us and trap us. That – wasn't him attacking us."
He shook his head. "They were his robots, weren't they?" Cyborg told her. "The man wouldn't let anyone else make those things. They were his style, all right. It's just that the attack wasn't."
"But that doesn't make sense," Bumble Bee said. "You just told me that he doesn't let other people use his stuff."
"Actually," Cyborg amended, "That isn't true. When Robin was his apprentice, Slade gave him all sorts of stuff. Same thing happened with Terra. I think the only other people he lets use his technology is his apprentices."
A look of comprehension came across Bumble Bee's face. "If the attack wasn't his style…and the robots were still his…"
Cyborg frowned when she didn't go on. "Then…?" he prodded.
She turned to him, smiling widely. "Then maybe he's letting his newest apprentice run the show."
"B-B-Beast Boy."
The teen looked up from examining the medical charts in shock. Raven was gazing at him, eyes unfocused, looking even more tired than she usually did. He quickly moved to the chair by her bed and sat down. "Raven," he said, straining to keep his voice quiet, "You're awake."
She nodded. "We – we lost pretty badly, huh," she whispered, eyes focusing a little better on Beast Boy.
Quietly, he laughed. "No, actually, we didn't," the transformer informed her. "Starfire defeated all the robots and saved everyone."
Violent eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Yeah," he said. "She took those binding things off me, and then she got you out of that goopy crap."
Raven smiled. She seemed a little stronger and pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Yeah," she said softly. "That gum stuff." Her voice sounded vacant and slightly dreamy.
That dreamy quality concerned Beast Boy. Raven didn't sound that way. Ever. "Maybe you'd better get some rest," he said, voice slightly perturbed.
She looked up at him, a strange emotion on her face. "Um – okay. I'm – tired. Very tired…" She leaned back onto the bed and closed her eyes. Beast Boy smiled down at her and put his hand on her forehead. The girl's skin felt soft and cool to the touch. Just like normal, he thought.
A soft, pale hand reached up and held onto his wrist. "Thank you," she whispered before she fell asleep.
"Starfire…can't…breathe…"
"Oh!" She let go of him, sitting back on the edge of the bed.
He smiled at her. "I – I'm glad you saved me," he said. Her face glowed with pride. "You did great," he said.
"You do not even know what I did," she said modestly.
A blush crept over his cheekbones. "Uh," he said. "Well, I know you saved me. How could I be here if you didn't? Cyborg was down, Raven was caught, and Beast Boy was being shocked."
She smiled. "I could tell you the epic tale of the rescue later," Starfire said.
"I'd like that." He sat up, then rubbed his head as a twinge of pain coursed through it. "Concussion, huh." Robin stretched, rolling his joints and moving his muscles.
Starfire nodded. "You were hit over the noggin with a blunt object," she said. "I believe you may have been punched."
A strange look came over his face. "About that," he began. "I think I know – "
"Robin!"
Cyborg's deep voice boomed out into the room. His head was sticking through the curtain, and Bumble Bee was with him. "Hey, y'all," she said, grinning. "Nice to see you awake. Raven's up too. What do you say we girls cook us up some breakfast?"
Their leader glanced at his communicator. "Wow," he said. "It's eight a.m. already."
Bumble Bee nodded. "So – how about that meal, huh? Raven's feeling better, so she can make Star some pancakes, and I can make some bacon and tofu pancakes for everybody. And fish," she said when Aqualad stuck his head in underneath hers. "I can make all sorts of stuff. My brother can help."
A boy in an outfit matching Bumble Bee's poked his head in. "Hi," he said, grinning. Then he pulled his head back out.
She rolled her eyes. "Wasp is – weird," she said.
The Titans laughed.
"Yeah," said Robin, "Breakfast sounds great."
"I will help!" Starfire exclaimed, rushing after Bumble Bee and the others.
She was floating down the hall when Beast Boy stopped her. "Uh, Star," he asked awkwardly, "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, friend Beast Boy," she said, landing on her feet before him. "What is the problem of which you wish to speak?"
The green teen gazed up at her. "Star," he said, "Why did you save me first?"
A look of surprise crossed her face. "I had a device to free you from your sparking prison," she said. "The figure who led the Slade attack gave it to me."
His face looked blank. "But why did he – uh – she – I mean – it – why did you get it?"
The girl frowned. "I do not really know," she said quietly. "I believe the person wished for you to be safe. The person left our other friends as destroyed."
This explanation seemed to satisfy his curiosity, and he nodded. As Beast Boy walked off down the hall back towards the Med Room, he suddenly stopped and turned to face Starfire. "But – why did they want me safe?"
Rory: Dun-dun-duuuun! A cliffy…Ooh. Haven't written any of those for a while. Dang, that felt good.
What did you think? I want an opinion, so review! Constructive criticism is huggled and appreciated; flames will be taken into serious consideration and used to build upon. But please, don't insult my interpretation of Ryand'r.
NOTE: In the original comic book series, Ryand'r did not have an English name. He did, however, have powers. Along with the Tamaranian ability to convert solar energy into flight (the emotion thing was created by the show writers by all probability,) Ryand'r could make his hands create intense heat. I did not know this when I originally wrote the previous chapters and when I created Darkfire's history and powers.