The Terrible Child

By cdc100

Summary: The Teen Titans are having a peaceful Saturday when they run across someone new; someone who is lost, alone, and holds a deep, dark secret. Robin X Starfire, Possible Beast Boy X Raven and OC X Blackfire.

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure, non-profit fanfiction. More comprehensive disclaimer to c-

"I'll provide that comprehensive disclaimer for ya!" yelled a man dressed from head to toe in red spandex.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Where are my manners?" asked the man in red. "Deadpool's the name, insanity's the game!"

(A/N: Wade Wilson/Deadpool – Ryan Reynolds)

"You know, I just went and saw your movie a week ago, and I have to say, it far surpassed my expectations," I said.

"Of course it did," said Deadpool. "You went in there worrying that that Van Wilder looking mofo wouldn't be able to pull it off."

"Well, can you blame me?" I asked. "I mean, come on. You remember how he was in Green Lantern; not to mention X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

"Don't you dare mention that to me again," said Deadpool.

"Sorry," I said.

Deadpool turned his attention to you.

"Okay, so, for a nice change of pace, cdc100 decided to get my help doing the disclaimer," he said.

"Actually, I was just going to-" I began.

"No, no," said Deadpool cutting me off. "Didn't you learn anything from my movie? I'm happy to help when I need to."

Deadpool cleared his throat.

"Anywho," said Deadpool. "cdc100 does NOT own anyone even having a little bit to do with DC or Marvel Comics. If he did, you guys wouldn't have had to wait until freakin' Valentines' Day to see my movie! I swear, I have written so many angry letters to 20th Century Fox about that…but I digress. If you don't support the official releases of these franchises, I'll jump through the fourth wall and KICK YOUR ASS!...back to you, cdc."

I cleared my throat.

"Thanks, Deadpool," I said. "Okay, without further ado, here is chapter two."

"Hey!" cried Deadpool, clapping his hands. "You rhymed!"

I grumbled and started typing on my keyboard again.

"So," asked Deadpool. "How long do you think it'll take for them to figure out-"

"Shut UP, Wilson," I said.

2

Chapter Two

"The Letter J"

The boy's piercing blue eyes darted around at the Titans. He gently moved his hands, holding the knife in a reverse grip and bracing for any incoming attack.

Robin, Cyborg and Starfire all held up their hands.

"Whoa, whoa," said Cyborg. "Easy, kid. We're not going to hurt you."

"Damn right you're not," the kid said in a low, scratchy voice.

The boy started to move in sidesteps, keeping the Titans within his sight.

"He means we're not here to hurt you," said Robin. "We just came to-"

Robin didn't get to finish, as the boy took off running from the group, scurrying through the brush ahead of him.

"Titans!" yelled Robin. "After him!"

The Titans chased after the boy. Cyborg charged through the brush while Starfire lifted Robin off the ground and flew over the trees. Raven and Beast Boy took to the skies as well, scanning the area ahead for the fleeing boy.

Starfire and Robin finally spotted the boy and flew toward him until they were just overhead.

"No more fleeing now, please!" cried Starfire. "We merely wish to speak with you!"

The boy didn't listen, and eventually stopped when he reached a clearing that consisted of a thick patch of briars and brambles, a steep cliff and a high drop into the ocean.

"Damn!" cried the boy.

He looked at the cliff and considered climbing it. Then, he considered crawling under the brambles. Finally, he looked at the ledge overlooking the ocean. He approached the ledge just as the Titans caught up to him.

The boy turned and glowered at the Titans before crossing his arms over his chest and locking his knees.

"No!" yelled Robin. "Wait!"

The boy jumped from the cliff before Robin could get another word in.

"I got him," said Beast Boy, turning into a pterodactyl and swooping down to grab the boy.

He caught the boy by the shoulders, and the boy growled in pain and frustration.

"Get off me!" yelled the boy.

The boy brought out his knife and started to swipe at Beast Boy with it. He nicked one of Beast Boy's talons, causing the changeling to let go and causing the boy to fall to the ground with a thud.

The boy groaned as he got to his feet. He looked at the cliff to find it blocked by Cyborg.

Beast Boy changed back to his regular self, jumping around and grabbing his foot.

"Dude!" yelled the changeling. "That hurt! What'd you do that for?!"

"This is your last chance," said the boy. "Let me go, or I'll seriously mess you up."

The Titans all glowered at the boy.

"You'd better watch your mouth, kid," said Cyborg. "We're not exactly number one on the list of people you want to fight with."

"Well, you're number one on the list of people in my way right now," said the boy.

Robin stepped forward.

"Let me handle this, guys," he said.

Robin then turned his attention to the boy.

"You want a fight?" he asked. "Well, now you've got one."

Robin lunged at the boy with a punch. The boy sidestepped and grabbed Robin's arm with his right, then swept his foot between robin's legs and knocked Robin's feet out from under him. He then twisted Robin's arm and brought his arm around Robin's neck before swinging Robin over his shoulder and throwing him to the ground.

Robin landed on his feet and did a backflip, aiming a kick at the boy's head, but the boy sidestepped that and grabbed the incoming leg before swinging Robin around and throwing him back away. Robin lunged again, but the boy blocked Robin's punches and jammed his palm against his throat, causing Robin to go into a coughing fit.

The boy then aimed a punch at Robin's cheek, causing him to spin around and hit the ground.

"Robin!" yelled Starfire.

The boy tried to turn and run again, but was suddenly caught in a globe of black energy.

"Let me go!" demanded the boy. "I'm serious!"

"And we're serious," said Cyborg. "Calm down."

Starfire helped Robin to his feet, and Robin examined his throat. He coughed a couple of times and cleared his throat.

"What was that?" he asked.

Raven looked up at the trapped boy and spoke.

"Listen to me," she said. "I don't know what you think is going on here, but we just came here to investigate something. We just happened to see you, and we are trying to figure things out, so we thought we would try to talk to you. I'm going to let you go, but only if you decide to talk to us."

The boy stopped struggling.

"So, if I talk to you, you'll let me go?" he asked. "I can leave?"

"I can't imagine why you'd want to, but if that's what you want, we won't stop you," she said. "But will you please just talk to us first?"

The boy nodded and Raven carefully sat him down. The boy put down his knife and sat on the ground.

"Who are you guys, anyway?" asked the boy. "You don't look like any person I've ever seen before."

"I'm guessing you don't watch a lot of news," said Beast Boy.

"News?" asked the boy.

"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "We're all over it. We're the Teen Titans."

"Teen Titans?" asked the boy.

"Yeah," said Cyborg. "We're superheroes. You know, fight the bad guys, save the day?"

"Superheroes?" asked the boy. "Give me a break."

"No, for real," said Beast Boy. "We've saved the city a bunch of times."

"I'm Robin," said Robin. "These are Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven."

"Alright," said Cyborg. "So, why don't we start with something simple. We've introduced ourselves, but…what's your name?"

The boy looked down at the ground, then back up at the Titans.

"I don't know," he said.

The Titans' eyes widened.

"You don't know?" asked Cyborg.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" asked the boy.

"Alright," said Robin. "Well, why don't we talk about something you do know. We came over to where you were because we smelled smoke. Well, Beast Boy smelled smoke."

"How'd you do that?" asked the boy. "I didn't even get a full fire going."

"Like this," said Beast Boy.

The changeling promptly turned into a bloodhound.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed the boy.

Beast Boy changed back.

"Bloodhound," said Beast Boy. "Their noses are like a bajillion times more sensitive than a human's."

"Right," said the boy.

"Anyway, we came and saw you lighting a fire," said Robin. "What were you doing?"

"Pretty sure you just answered your own question," said the boy.

"I mean, why were you starting it?" asked Robin, scowling.

"Why?" asked the boy. "I was going to cook something."

"And you didn't think to use any of the grills in the park?" asked Cyborg.

"Park?" asked the boy. "Am I even near one of those?"

"Yeah," said Beast Boy.

The boy shrugged.

"I was just doing what I thought to do at the time," he said.

"So, what were you going to cook?" asked Raven.

"Fish," said the boy.

"Why?" asked Robin.

"I was hungry," said the boy.

"No, I mean, why were you cooking fish?" asked Robin.

"I just said I was hungry," said the boy.

"No, I mean…" Robin started. He growled under his breath before continuing. "Why weren't you cooking…like, hot dogs or burgers?"

"Didn't have one," said the boy. "Worse yet, didn't know where I could get one. But I figured the water had to have some fish in it, right? So, pretty obvious. Catch some fish."

"Why didn't you bring any food with you?" asked Raven. "If you were going on a camping trip, you should have brought some supplies."

"Camping trip?" asked the boy.

"Yeah," said Raven.

"This isn't a camping trip," said the boy. "I wouldn't even be here right now if I had any other option."

"What do you mean?" asked Starfire.

Robin rubbed his hand through his hair.

"I think we need to hear your story from the beginning," he said.

"Okay," said the boy. "Yesterday, someone told me to run as fast as I could. They put this knife in my hand and told me to get out of there. I did what they told me, running as fast as I could until I got here. When I got here, I passed out. When I woke up, I was hungry, so I went down to catch some fish."

"What were you running from?" asked Starfire.

"I don't know," said the boy.

"Why were you running from them?" asked Raven.

"Because I was told to," said the boy.

"Why did they tell you to?" asked Robin.

"I don't know," said the boy.

"Why did they give you that knife?" asked Beast Boy.

"I don't know," said the boy.

"Well, you're a truckload of information, aren't you?" asked Cyborg.

The boy scowled at Cyborg.

"Well, excuse me for not remembering anything before last night," he said.

Cyborg frowned.

"You can't remember anything?" asked Cyborg.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" asked the boy.

The Titans all looked at each other, then back at the boy.

"What?" asked the boy.

"We're going to need a minute," said Robin, leading the other Titans off to the side.

Robin looked over at the boy one time before he started to talk.

"So, what do you guys make of this?" he asked.

"Sounds like we're dealing with amnesia," said Raven. "How old does he look to you guys?"

"If I had to guess, somewhere between 15 and 17," said Cyborg. "Way too old to have only two days' worth of memories."

"Right," said Raven. "So, either he's an amnesiac or he has some kind of disorder preventing him from remembering further back than 48 hours. Either way, it's not a good idea to leave him here by himself."

"I concur," said Starfire. "Did you see how he reacted when we attempted to speak to him at first?"

"He looked panicked," said Beast Boy. "He seemed to think we were trying to capture him or something."

"Or something," said Cyborg. "Question is, what? What could have freaked him out so bad that he'd try to defend himself the way he did. Although I have to admit, it was pretty fun watching Robin get his ass kicked for once."

Robin scowled at Cyborg before clearing his throat.

"So, what should we do?" asked Robin.

Cyborg shrugged.

"I can tell the poor kid doesn't trust us," he said. "But I think we should try to offer him help. If he says no, he says no, but let's try to give him plenty of reasons to say yes."

The teens nodded at each other then turned back to the boy, who was scraping the blade of his knife against a stone.

He looked back up as they approached.

"So?" the kid asked.

The group sat in a circle around the boy.

"Listen," said Robin. "I know we said we'd let you go, and if you want to, we won't stop you, but…"

The boy leaned in.

"But what?" he asked.

"Well…we'd like to try and help you," said Robin.

"Help me?" asked the boy.

"Yeah," said Robin. "I'm sure you're probably hungry and…well, where did you sleep last night?"

"You mean 'where did I pass out?'" asked the boy. "I fell into the grass."

"Well," said Cyborg. "If you want, we can let you stay with us. At least for a little while, you know? Not exactly a five-star hotel, but I'm sure we could find a room for you."

The boy looked down at the ground and scratched his head.

"Also, Raven cooked some pancakes earlier," said Robin. "If you ask nice, she could probably fix you some more."

"You guys don't have to cook for me," said the boy. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but…"

"Oh, please?" said Starfire. "We would feel most guilty and aggrieved if we could not ensure you are taken care of."

"Why are you guys so concerned about me?" asked the boy.

"We're superheroes," said Cyborg. "It's our job."

"Right," said the boy.

The boy took a deep breath and sighed.

"Alright," he said. "I'm not exactly sure what you guys want out of this, but…I suppose if you guys think it best, I can come with you."

Robin stood up and held a hand out to the boy.

The boy ignored Robin's hand and stood up on his own.

"Let me go grab my socks and my fish," he said.

The group followed after the boy, who led them to the place where he had set his fire up. He picked up his socks and the two fish he had caught.

"Those are the fish you caught?" asked Cyborg. "They look like they've been bitten into already. You might want to leave them there. Something might have snacked on them and given them some kind of disease."

"That was me," said the boy. "I was eating them."

Cyborg's organic eye widened.

"Raw?" he asked.

"Yeah," said the boy.

"Um…okay then," said Cyborg.

Robin took off his cape and handed it to the boy.

"Here," he said. "You can use that to cover up while we get you to our car."

"Thanks," said the boy.

As they walked, the boy looked over at Beast Boy.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Beast Boy looked quizzically at the boy.

"For what?" he asked.

"For slicing your toe," said the boy.

"Oh, dude, don't even worry about it," said Beast Boy. "I'll bounce back."

"If you say so," said the boy.

Once everyone got to the car, they piled in and Cyborg started to drive them back to Titans Tower.

"Okay, once we get back to the tower, Cyborg will get you something to eat and give you a full medical checkup, and Raven and I will try to find you some clothes," said Robin. "That work for you?"

"Fine by me," said the boy. "If you guys don't feel like cooking, I can just fry up my fish."

Once back at the tower, the group did as they said they would. Cyborg brought the boy down to the medbay and gave him a full examination. He looked the boy over and patched up any injuries he found, no matter what size. After Cyborg was done with the examination, Raven and Robin came into the medbay and handed him a pile of clothes. They gave him a pair of boots, some socks, a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and one of Robin's leather jackets he wore when dressed as a civilian.

The boy looked at himself in the mirror, then looked over at his hosts.

"Thanks," he said. "This feels…great."

Robin smiled at him.

"You look great," he said. "Now, I believe we promised you something to eat."

The Titans and their new guest went to the kitchen, where Raven made some pancakes for the boy, and the boy threw his fish onto a grill.

Robin came into the kitchen and observed the boy as he cooked his fish.

"We're not going to bust you for this, but…you should probably know that catching those fish was probably illegal," he said.

The boy shrugged.

"Laws don't mean a whole hell of a lot when it's life or death," he said.

After several minutes, he took the fish off the grill and sat on the floor. He picked up the one he caught first in both his hands and started to tear away at the fish with his teeth. The Titans looked over at the boy as he pulled scrap after scrap off the fish. The boy let out little grunts and moans as he ate, his face getting slathered with blood as he crunched.

The boy's behavior made all of the Titans quirk an eyebrow, except for Beast Boy, who made a face and bolted from the room, keeping his hand over his mouth.

Raven finished making the pancakes and set them on a plate, which she then handed to the boy.

"Here," she said.

"Thanks," said the boy.

Once the boy had picked both fish to the bone, he started eating Raven's pancakes by hand.

"Delicious," said the boy.

Cyborg scratched the organic side of his head.

"You uh…got quite the appetite, don't you?" he asked.

"I guess," said the boy.

"Hey, why don't you come into the living room with us?" asked Robin.

The Titans made room for the boy in the center of the couch. The boy shrugged and sat in between them, still holding onto his food.

"What's up?" asked the boy.

"We'd like to try and help you," said Robin. "I realize you didn't originally plan on coming here, but we couldn't very well leave you the way we found you."

The boy sighed.

"I realize that," said the boy. "If you're superheroes like you said, then it kind of fell within the realm of your responsibilities to help."

"Good," said Robin. "I'm glad we understand each other."

The boy nodded.

"So, what exactly was your plan?" he asked.

"Well, what we do depends entirely on you," said Cyborg. "Before we decide on anything, we thought it was only fair that we have a good, long conversation about you and what's been going on."

"Right," said the boy.

"So, do you mind if we just ask you some questions?" asked Raven.

The boy shrugged.

"Ask away," he said.

"You said that the first thing you remember is being on the run?" asked Robin.

"Pretty much," said the boy.

"Any idea what you might have been on the run from?" asked Cyborg.

"Not a one," said the boy.

"Alright, well, what exactly was your plan after you ate?" asked Robin.

"Well," said the boy, "I had no idea where I was, so I figured the smart thing would be to find some shelter and then try to get some information about this place. I didn't know how I was going to accomplish that, looking the way I did."

"You mean…in nothing but your underwear?" asked Raven.

"I may not remember much, but even I know you shouldn't just parade around looking like I did," said the boy. "Problem was, there wasn't really…damn it, why didn't I think of the beach? Is there a beach around here?"

"Yeah, there is," said Beast Boy, as he came back into the living room.

The boy growled under his breath.

"Well, my idea was to take you to the police and see if we could get somebody on your case looking for anybody who might know you," said Robin. "What do you think of that idea?"

"Not the best," said the boy. "If someone was chasing after me like I thought, then they're probably still out there and just waiting for their chance to get me. My best bet is to stay under the radar."

"Good point," said Robin. "The other option would be for you to stay here until we can figure out a better long-term solution."

"Suits me fine," said the boy. "But what about you? I don't have any way to pay for room or board."

Robin scratched his chin.

"I think we could treat this as a pro bono case," said Robin.

"Yeah," said Cyborg. "We can make it a pet project of ours."

"Interesting idea," said the boy.

"I have another idea," said Starfire.

"What's up, Star?" asked Robin.

"You remember your fight earlier, yes?" asked Starfire.

"I sure do," said Cyborg. "Bird Boy got knocked for a loop by a kid in boxer shorts."

Robin scowled at Cyborg.

"Perhaps if he were to train with us, work with us, we might be able to help him regain his memory," said Starfire. "That way, he will not have to feel bad about staying here."

"You might be onto something, Starfire," said Robin.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," said the boy.

"Before we do anything else, we've got to address the elephant in the room," said Beast Boy.

"To which pachyderm do you refer, Beast Boy?" asked Starfire.

"We're dealing with someone here who has no past, no memories, no clothes and no name," said Beast Boy. "The kid's a regular Jason Bourne."

"Well, at least you guys didn't have to pull me out of the ocean," said the kid.

"Dude!" exclaimed Beast Boy. "You know who Jason Bourne is!"

"I do?" asked the kid. "Holy crap. I do. How's that possible?"

Cyborg looked over at the boy.

"We're probably dealing with a specific type of amnesia," said Cyborg. "A kind where basic things like how to talk, how to read, who the president is, are retained, but stuff like name, job, favorite color, are out the window."

"Anyway," said Beast Boy, "my point is…we need to think of something to call you."

"I see," said the boy. "Anything come to mind?"

"Well, there's Jason," said Beast Boy. "Doesn't sound very original, though."

"Maybe not," said the boy. "But I think you're onto something. I like the letter J."

"Well, how about we just call you J for now?" asked Beast Boy. "Just until we can figure out your real name."

The boy nodded.

"Works for me," he said.

(A/N: J – David Hayter)

"Alright, J," said Robin. "I think you've been through enough today, so if you'd like to get some rest, we can show you to a room here."

"No need," said J. "I'm guessing any room that's not labeled with your names isn't in use?"

"Yeah," said Robin. "Pretty much."

"Well, in that case, I'll just find something myself," said J. "Anything's got to be better than wet grass."

J turned and left the room, leaving the Titans to talk.

"He is…odd, yes?" asked Starfire.

"Dude can't remember anything earlier than last night," said Cyborg. "How normal would any of us be in that situation?"

"Cyborg's right," said Raven. "You hear of amnesia doing weird stuff to a person. Changes in personality, different tastes in music, different favorite foods, you name it."

"So, wait," said Beast Boy. "I could get conked on the head and suddenly want turn into a carnivore?"

"Did you really just ask that, BB?" asked Cyborg.

"I wonder what he was like before he lost his memory," said Robin. "If we knew that, it might give us a better idea on how to help him."

"Or it might make things worse," said Raven. "If a person is reintroduced to their original identity too suddenly, their mind might reject it permanently. I think it'd be best if we all try to discover his identity together. If we learn with him, we might be able to help him come to terms with it."

Robin nodded.

"Right," said Robin. "How about we have him spar with us tomorrow in the gym? Think that would be too much too soon?"

"Maybe," said Raven. "Maybe not. We saw what he did this morning. Fighting might help, or it might just cause problems."

"I think it's worth a go," said Cyborg. "I don't know how you lose more memories than…all of them."

As the Titans spoke, J went to a room toward the end of the Titans' residential areas, and opened the door. Inside was fairly basic. It contained a made bed with pillows and blankets. The boy took off the jacket Robin let him borrow and draped it over himself as he lay down. He rolled over and pushed his impossibly long hair over his shoulder before falling to sleep, deciding to cut it in the morning.

To be continued…