The Not-So-Coma Coma

"Friend Raven?" Starfire questioned gently as she knocked on her door.

"Go away." Raven replied in her usual monotone.

"Friend Raven, I thought you would wish to know that Friend Hunter's condition has been stabilized. He is resting in what Friend Cyborg calls a 'self-induced coma'. However I would like to add that I do not know what a 'coma' is so I do not know if that is news of the happy or the sad variety." Starfire replied in a solemn voice, pondering the words she had just spoke.

Without warning Raven burst out of her room, pushing Starfire aside and rushing into the infirmary.

"He's alive!" She yelled, emotions slightly getting the best of her as all the windows in the room shattered.

"For now." Cyborg replied sleepily as he gazed at the windows and shook his head. "He's in a-

"Self-induced coma. Yea, I know. Star told me." Raven interrupted, returning to her monotone and inspecting the cast. "So, how long until he's fixed?"

"Hard to say. Could be days, could be months, could even be years. Coma's are unpredictable like that." Cyborg replied, worry creeping into his voice.

"You don't know!?" Raven yelled, destroying even more glass within the tower. "Sorry." She replied a moment later, fixing the glass with her dark energy.

"It's not like I can predict this sort of thing Rave. From the looks of it, his physical injuries alone will take months to heal." He replied with a sigh.

"Titans, come in." Robin's voice emanated from the speakers. "I'm holding an emergency meeting in five minutes. Report or two hours of extra training tomorrow." He added, hurriedly.

"Wonder what's got him in a mood." Cyborg shrugged as he made his way to the living room.

"Who knows. Who cares." Raven replied as she took one more trailing look at Hunter before reluctantly leaving the room.

—

"Okay, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Beast Boy is back. I'm sure we all have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, we got a team mate back whom we had all thought had perished. On the other hand, he's in a comatose state near death." Robin began as Starfire winced at the blunt reality of his words. "I, for one, have some serious regrets about the way I talked about and remembered our friend in his absence and I'm sure each of you do as well. So, in order to prepare for the worse, I think it would be wise for all of us to go and talk to him. It may seem odd, considering he's in a coma and can't hear us, but it will lift a great burden from our shoulders." Robin finished as he solemnly looked from teammate to teammate.

"No. He's not dead and I won't treat him like he is." Raven said, slight tremble in her voice as she walked out of the room.

"I'll-" Cyborg began.

"Let her be. She needs time. As do we all." Robin interrupted as he put a hand on Cyborg's shoulder. Beside them, Starfire burst into a fit of tears at the prospect of never talking to Beast Boy again.

—

(Later that day...)

"Listen Beast Boy. I know you can't hear me and I'm sad that you'll never hear these words. But, I...I'm sorry. When you died. Or rather...disappeared, I dealt with my grief by being mad at you for betraying us against your will. I realize now that that was stupid but at the time, I wasn't thinking straight. I just couldn't stand to lose a person who I'd come to think of as a brother. And, when you returned, I was too stupid and arrogant to realize that it was you. I should have seen it. Similar powers, similar behavior, same crime-fighting heroism. I...I guess what I'm trying to say is, I really hope you get better and I don't think I can bear to lose you again, not without apologizing first." Robin said as he walked out of the room holding back tears.

"Aww man. It's okay. I forgive you. Wait, how am I talking. How come I could hear that. What the hell is going on?" Hunter spoke as he realized for the first time that he wasn't dead. He turned and looked down, only to see himself laid out on a hospital bed in the infirmary. To confirm his suspicion, he looked down at his hands and realized. "I'm a sprit. Wait, so does that mean no one can hear me. Can they feel me? Smell me?" He asked, confused.

"Haha. No young one, the only people who can hear you are yourself and I." Prime boomed in his head.

"Oh hey old buddy. How goes it?" Hunter replied, smiling.

"Not too terribly. Minus the fact that my host might die soon. You?" Prime answered back.

"Not sure what I can do at the moment, or even how this happened, but other than that, just peachy." Hunter said, still smiling.

"No worries. Allow me to explain. When your body sustains a significant amount of damage, it projects a spiritual version of you into the physical world. This projection cannot interact with anything other than other spirits and is mainly there to ensure that your consciousness remains even if your body dies." Prime explained.

"And what happens to the spirit if my body dies?"

"As long as your body is alive, your spirit must remain within five feet at all times or else it will be transferred back into your body. If your body dies, however, your spirit is free to roam and occupy a new host."

"Host?"

"Any natural life form that has sustained enough damage to be considered dying or dead. Your spirit may enter this life form and restore it to health. You can then choose whether or not you wish to merge with the life form permanently, granting it your powers and giving it access to all of your memories, or continue on, healing other, fatally wounded, life forms. Much like how I found, healed, and eventually merged with you." Prime boomed, chuckling. "It's funny how stuff like this comes full circle. Don't you think?"

"Yea...Funny. Not sure I'd use that word to describe it, but okay." Hunter replied. "So, all I can do as a spirit is sit here and wait for myself to heal?"

"Yes. Unfortunately you'll be here awhile."

"Awwww man. I don't wanna be trapped here until I heal." Hunter whined.

"'Thems the breaks' as you humans would say."

"We need to work on your idea of slang, buddy." Hunter smiled as he 'sat' in a nearby chair and waited for the next Titan to talk to him.