"Alright, that should just about do it."
With a steady hand he pierced the bare skin of his comrade with the curved needle one last time before tying off the stitch. He cut the excess thread before placing his tools down on the tray beside him.
"So.. he's gonna he okay, right?"
The comment from the green skinned boy in the seat beside the bed was layered with a sense of urgency and fear. His eyes betrayed the same emotion. Cyborg turned to him as he pulled off his gloves and threw them in a trash bin.
"Yeah, he should be. I stopped the internal bleeding and set his ribs back in place. It doesn't look pretty but he'll pull through."
Beastboy's features clearly calmed at the statement as his shoulders fell and he sighed in relief. Beside him, Raven's eyes lingered on the young leader's sleeping form. Her features were hard to determine from beneath her hood and cloak but based upon the stiffness of her shoulders she was less than comforted by the comment.
"While he's still under I need a hand popping his shoulder back in place. Rae can you give me a hand?"
The question threw her from her hidden trance and she looked up to meet eyes with the metal man. For a brief moment Cyborg was able to pierce the veil and see the emotions that ran rampant through her mind. Flashes of her own concern fleeted as she finally processed his previous statement but the looming threat of self hatred began to boil within her violet pools.
"You okay, Rae?"
She hadn't realized just how long she'd stood there returning her gaze but the moment slammed into her as a sharp stinging sensation began to resonate from her right arm.
"I need to meditate."
She said calmly enough to fool Beastboy but due to the expression that seated itself on Cyborg's face she knew she hadn't convinced him. His single brow knit itself in concern as she quickly turned tail and exited the room. She was surprised that he did not attempt to call after her but she pressed on.
"Is she okay?"
The question caught Cyborg off guard. The normally aloof shapeshifter rarely paid attention to others emotions. Cyborg's heavy sigh filled the room.
"She will be. . ."
Beastboy nodded in understanding as Cyborg leaned his weight onto his hands placed on the bed.
"What do you think is wrong?"
The care that emanated from the young Titan was almost uncharacteristic, especially being directed at the young empath he fought with so regularly. Cyborg knew he cared but it was very rare for him to show it for anyone to see. Even Raven herself had only seen his true kindness a seldom few times.
"You saw the fight, I think she blames herself for Robin getting hurt."
Beastboy nodded thinking back to the fight only a few hours ago. They'd been preoccupied with their own adversaries at the time but he remembered hearing Raven yell one distinct word, 'No'. He'd looked on for a moment to see Raven spring to life and fight in a way he'd never seen. She lunged at the bikers standing over Robin lashing out with her fists as her black energy enveloped her hands to increase their force. After that he was forced to return to his task at hand.
"Yeah. . . Did you see the way she attacked them?"
Cyborg nodded.
"I've never seen her go after someone like that. It was like she lost control."
The two stood for a long moment, staring off into space as they thought about what they'd seen. Robin stirred for a moment before settling again and Cyborg spoke.
"He's gonna come to soon, I guess you're helping me."
Cyborg sighed as his expression returned to it's normal, upbeat, personality. At his words Beastboy's features lit up with a combination of determination and fear though the latter mostly prevailed. Beastboy morphed into an octopus and held Robin in place while Cyborg forced his arm back into its socket.
*pop*
The sound reverberated loudly through the room and as it did so the green changeling quickly morphed back before sprinting to the nearest sink. Just as he reached it the water works began and his stomach was emptied into the tower's water lines. The only thing that could be heard apart from the convulsions of Beastboy's intestines was the boisterous laughter bellowing from Cyborg.
Consciousness slowly returned behind the mask.
—
It took all but a few moments for her to reach her sanctuary. The door opened at her presence and quickly shut behind her as she retreated into the confines of her safe haven. Dark velvet curtains and cold gothic art bade her 'Welcome' as she discarded her cloak with one hand and made her way to the bathroom.
The pain in the joint of her arm had not subsided and it's throbbing annoyance was quickly overriding her senses and making it difficult to even see straight. The latter becoming more evident as she stumbled through the bathroom door and leaned against the counter with her good arm. Her vision crossed and doubles appeared for a moment before returning to normal.
She'd been hurt before, plenty of times, but a broken bone was not nearly as common for her. Muscle fiber and skin are both quick to mend as they grow naturally. Bone, however, has a much slower rejuvenation process thus resulting in greater amounts of compounded agony. It was one of the reasons she refused to heal broken bones unless completely necessary. The sheer pain experienced through the process could nearly be enough to knock her unconscious. Come to think of it, she was coming dangerously close to that already.
Raven looked at herself for a long moment in the mirror. As she took in each piece of her appearance she briefly thought of the storied reasons behind each characteristic. Her eyes harbored dark circles beneath them from what felt like months of sleepless nights and haunted nightmares. Glowing red eyes stared back at her from the darkness of her eyelids even as she blinked. When she laid in bed she could feel the sharp nails press against her wrists and the blades at her sides. The vivid image played in her mind again before she forced herself to continue her self-inventory.
Her skin had lost its glow and had lightened to an almost deathly pale white, still dirtied by her ashen complexion. The night terrors May have only attacked at night but the lingering thoughts managed to creep into her daily mind and distracted her from important tasks. One such task was eating. She could not remember the last time she had actually eaten a full meal. As it was the only thing that settled her stomach contents at the moment was the herbal tea that Robin had brought her hours ago. She felt her stomach rumble in protest but she pushed the feeling away.
Her body had become even more frail than it had before. Her physique had always been quite slender but now her bone almost seemed to show through the dark fabric that covered her body. Her ribs were nearly visible and her arms looked weak and thin. Luckily her legs seemed to have fared well even with the lack of sustenance. Perhaps if they hadn't the titans would have confronted her about her health.
The heavy pang of wounded arm began to throb in her mind and she mustered her strength to stand up straight. Once successful she reached behind her back with her good arm to pull at the zipper of her leotard. The process was slow and she could feel each of the metal teeth as they were parted. But by bit she felt the cold air of her room as it lit upon her almost bare back.
The zipper stopped about the middle of her back and she brought her hand back around her front before reaching back to her right shoulder to begin peeling back her second skin. Once again, inch by inch her shoulder then bicep and forearm were bathed in the crisp air-conditioned air. She mentally chided herself for keeping her room so cold. She utilized all of her effort to ensure that she did not shiver as the following pain would be unbearable.
Eventually she freed her broken appendage and made quick work on removing the other sleeve before kicking the garment off her body. Once again she stood to take in her body now seeing the full effect of her recent malnourishment. The outlines of her ribs were visible beneath the fading lines of muscle just below where her bra ended.
Her vision followed her skin until focusing on the black and blue bruising that had formed around her elbow and down the length of her forearm. Speckles of red covered the fragile limb where blood vessels had erupted beneath the surface giving it a sickly look. Cradling her arm she ran her long slender fingers down the length of it softly probing the wound for breaks. Her elbow had been de-socketed when Rancid had twisted her arm but when he'd forced her to stand the quick motion had put it back in place. Apart from this her fingers found a split in the lower part of her forearm running the length of it. As she applied light pressure to the crevice she felt it widen ever so slightly.
Immense pain began swelling up inside her as the nerve endings sent emergency responses. Wave after agonizing wave of torment racked her senses and she felt her legs buckle beneath her. Quickly she spun around and allowed her body to slump agains the counter while she brought her knees to her chest and coddled her arm. Eyes shut tightly as she was forced to experience the immense aching.
A few minutes passed like this before she was finally able to regain her composure. Her breathing was heavy and erratic and as she opened her eyes she half expected the room to be covered in shards of broken glass and splintered wood. To her surprise she found nothing out of place. Confusion setting in she looked around the room. The Can lights above her as well as the the light above her mirror were intact, still giving off a warm glow. The mirror remained uncracked and the glass of her shower was unmarred by her powers.
Now confused by the lack of destruction she raised her good hand at the bathroom door. Focusing on the metal object she tried to project her soul to telekinetically move it. Nothing happened. She tried again. . . But nothing happened. She brought her hand back and stared at it as if it had offended her in some way.
"The hell?"
Carefully she stood and steadied herself taking extra care to ensure her arm did not brush against anything else. She then proceeded to return to her room opening the door by her good hand. She crossed her room to her bookshelf, determined to find out what was going on. Her eyes lit upon each tome and scroll before finally settling on a hardcover book with 'Obumbratio' scrawled on its spine. Out of habit she attempted to lift her right arm and was met with a sharp stinging sensation. She quickly relaxed the arm again and grabbed the book with her left hand before retreating to her bed.
Once sitting in a lotus upon her soft sheets she began to pick through the leaflet pages of the centuries-old spell-book. It took her but a few moments to find the page she desired, 'Dolor' written as the header to the page. Line after line of ancient Latin text passed her eyes until she finally found her explanation. The passage explained how pain fit in to the empathic healing process. It said that if the source of such energy were to be injured their powers would autonomously focus on healing them and, if the damage is great enough, limit their other powers. Raven let loose a loud sigh of discontentment and resignation.
"Well at least there's that. . ."
She may be wounded but at least the immense flow of emotional energy would not cause her to destroy the world a second time. Still she would not be able to fight along side the titans in her current state and she had no desire to tell them of her wound. The thought of Cyborg forcing her to sit in the medbay for God only knows how long made her shutter. 'Let's just hope there's no trouble for a bit. . .'
—
The cold grey walls of the steel corridor quickly became speckled with deep red streaks and spots. Alien screams from pain echoed across the ship as did beam fire and the sound of sharp metal cutting cleanly through armor and flesh alike. The man walked through the halls with nary a body to falter his step. Each mercenary that drew their gun upon him was quickly torn asunder by the blood stained black blade and their shots were blocked by a field of dark energy. They shouted commands and tactics but none could withstand the power of the 4 eyed man.
He neared the bridge of the ship and the mercenaries frantically shut the blast door in a last feeble attempt to stop the advance of the blood-craving man. The captain shouted for his men to ready their weapons. A moment passed before the mans blade had pierced the foot thick metal door and began to cut through it as though it were warm butter. Each of the alien warriors looked on in silent horror as the only sound that pierced the air was the squealing of metal scraping against metal. The door fell away and the mercenaries trained their weapons upon him but did not fire. The captain met eyes with man in a glare before his raised right arm fell forward to point at him.
"Fire!"
He shouted but the room was not filled with the clicking noise of completed circuits nor the fiery roar of overheated plasma. He looked from side to side at his men but they were frozen in place, a black aura surrounding them. Panic began to settle into his mind when he heard the man speak.
"You possess a fine ship, Captain."
The strong voice of the 4 eyed man resounded loudly through the room, a commanding presence from such a singular man. The captain gathered his strength in hopes that intimidation may work to deter the man.
"You'll outlay for that!"
Jacob began taking steps forward toward the visibly shaking captain and began to circle around him.
"I have a request. My brothers and I are in search of our dear Sister. I would like you to seek her out and return with your findings."
His attempt at intimidation had fallen flat on its face as it had been completely ignored. He thought for only a moment on the proposition but glowered at the task. Jacob came to stand directly in front of him, staring back into the alien man's eyes. The eerie hollow glow of his eyes began to feed visions of hellfire and damnation to the captain filling him with terror but still he made no move to agree as he stood his ground against the demon.
"A pity, I did so hope you'd help willingly."
The fire of his upper pair of eyes began to burn brighter and the red glow quickly overtook the captain's vision, commanding his body and mind.
"Go and find the gem."
The simple phrase left the mans mouth as he turned to walk out the way he'd come. The guns that had been previously trained on him lifted as his newest minion began to sire his men. A large grin lit upon the hooded man's face as he walked.
"We'll see you soon sister."