When she awoke, beside the window and cocooned in her blanket, she felt her cheek drenched with what she hoped was merely water. Blinking away the remnants of a fitful rest, plagued with nightmares of a life before, she found shapes blurring into view and her voice suddenly reached a crescendo of screeching when she finally focused on what was in front of her.
A bumbling ball of pink and pale cream, blinked at her, jaw slackened to reveal a purple tongue, hidden behind daggered teeth. Strange, curled markings adorned its worm-like body, with four stumped legs running down either side of its body, with a hooked tail like a scorpion's to complete it.
Esper crawled back, screeching at the sight of the creature's razor teeth, fear bubbling up her throat in shrill noises. The small worm-like thing gave its own hollow screech, pulling back the long tongue into its mouth and squirming backwards. Its eyes circled in hurt, and soon found itself circling back and burrowing under the blankets she had slept under as the five heroes battled through the door, Starfire's hair thrown upwards in sleep-rattled curls.
"Where's the fire?" Cyborg sleepily uttered, half-heartedly lifting a hand as he stumbled into Robin, eyes closing and opening rhythmically.
Beastboy, now intrigued by Esper, watching as she clutched the blanket's with a death grip that could rival even Cyborg's, shot towards her, Starfire following. But the redhead was soon intrigued with the shaking mess of blankets, and as Beastboy attempted to calm the girl, unsuccessfully, nimble fingers pulled back the blankets to reveal the shaken mutant worm.
Starfire's eyes widened at the sight, and with a whimper, the mutant leapt into her arms and burrowed into the crook of her neck, like a child would do when clutching their mother. "Silkie! You are not to be terrifying our guest like that."
Silkie only whimpered in response, which caught Esper's attention once more, eliciting a soft gasp of terror from the girl. She clutched at Beastboy's wrist, who groaned at the tight squeeze. He didn't know she was so strong. Turning, in desperation, he flapped his hand at the redhead. "Starfire, can you get Silkie outta here, he's scaring Esper."
With a quick nod and a turn on her heel, Starfire shuffled out of the room, reprimanding Silkie for scaring the girl. The others, however, watched in vague fascination as Beastboy's attempts at calming the girl turned sour, as she could only clutch her head and shake with short gasps for breath. In her annoyance, Raven swept forwards.
Pushed from where he was perched on his haunches, Beastboy and the others could only watch in bewilderment as Raven crouched before the girl. Her gaze was blank when she threw back her hood, but they knew she was worried from the anxious chew she gave to her lip. Slowly, her fingertips brushed Esper's with the lightest of touches, and the girl's head snapped upwards.
Eyes rounding in terror at the sight of a stranger, Esper's legs pushed back, so she slid further away from Raven, one hand gripping along the large window to support her quivering frame. With all the calmness and gentle nature someone who had learnt to control their emotions would have, Raven placed a hand upwards, emotionless expression never wavering. "Esper, it's okay. It was just Starfire's stupid pet, Silkie, so I suggest you calm down."
As Esper's breathing evened once more, Raven stood and flipped up her hood, her fascination with the girl all but lost. She turned away and fell back through the doors, muttering about her need for peace and quiet. The others stared after her in astonishment. Usually, the usually placid and docile girl who hardly showed emotion had shown slight worry for a girl that had somehow intruded on their lives in the weirdest of ways. Raven was not known for her kindness.
As the waves of shock turned to a gentle ripple around them, and Esper was calmed once more from her fright at the sight of the mutant pet, the atmosphere shifted into comfortability. Only when Cyborg approached both Esper and Beastboy, did the girl jump at the sight of the mountain of muscle above her.
The elder slowly lowered himself to his knees beside the girl, knowing she was prone to jump at the slightest of sounds and touches. He placed his hands before him, gaze steady with hers which only consisted of harmless inquisitiveness. A smile curled across his dry lips when she didn't back away instantly. "Esper, I'm Cyborg – you can call me Cy if you want," he said, noticing a burst of recognition in her eyes at the name. "I need to ask a favor of you."
Esper twisted, looking to Beastboy in confirmation, who gave her an enthusiastic nod. The girl turned, with a shaky smile. She still didn't trust them fully, but when Cyborg stood and beckoned the two to follow, she did so with a skip in her step.
Her eyes were wide with interest and eagerness, jumping back with an elated squeal when she accidentally opened mechanical doors or racing to windows to stare at the outside world. It had been so long since she had had the chance to roam somewhere freely.
Their destination came quick, and she found herself in a dome-like room, circular lights above her. They blinded her vision, causing her gaze to turn downwards, where she felt the soft prod of clothes in her hands. Her gaze turned upwards once more, finding the kind face of Starfire handing her clothes. "Cyborg requested that you change. Do you wish accompaniment?"
Esper blinked shyly and gave a shake of her head, shuffling towards the hidden door that Starfire had graciously pointed her towards. She slid behind the door and slowly, biting back a whimper at the feeling of enclosed spaces, began to change.
Once finished, Esper stepped out of the room, fixing an ear piece over the shell of her ear with a microphone. The new clothes across her body felt weird, the fabric much softer than she had ever been used too. Black pants, much like leggings, were secured close to her waist line with a light red belt, like a Japanese obi, spinning the expanse of her waist. A black long sleeve shirt adorned her torso, with metal armour plates on her hands, shoulders and upper torso. In the middle of each, a red circle could be seen, something that vaguely reminded her of her powers.
"Okay, Esp," a crackled voice spat in her ear, making her jump at the sudden sound before she recognized it as Cyborg's. "If you look up, you'll see a glass overhang. The entire team's here, so you're not alone, alright?"
She followed his instructions upwards as he guided her into the middle, noticing a window that stared down at her position. A tremor filled her body as the reality of what was happening came down upon her. This was a test.
Her wide eyed gaze turned to the floor, but oblivious to her fright, Cyborg continued on with the program, speaking slowly into the ear piece, the machinery almost drowning out any intelligible speech. His hands danced across the buttons until, around Esper, a series of straw dummies lifted from the floor, creating a circle around the girl. Her breathing suddenly increased at the feeling of being trapped, of bars from an entirely different life closing in on her chest, crushing her lungs to the floor.
"Doctor Winters, the subject is resisting the arena tests!"
"Stick it with the anesthesia, subject 622017 is vital to this procedure!"
"Esper," he repeated once again, trying to gain her attention as the heat clung to her chest, a fire beneath her rib bones. "Esper, I need you to shoot the dummies, kiddo, okay?"
"It's becoming hysterical, we may have to destroy it if it will not comply to the study."
"Carlyle, we're being paid a wealthy amount of money, by a wealthy man."
"But it's -"
"I'm not losing this subject. Put it into the testing room, that'll get it's rage out."
When she didn't answer, only stared at her toes, confusion seeped into the air and anxious glances were exchanged. Robin, on Starfire's left, crossed his arms and sent Cyborg a withered look. The robotic man had gone against his wishes, creating a test for the girl when Robin had profusely fought that she wasn't ready, and that it was pointless to do so. When Cyborg caught sight of the look, a new found determination flared up inside of him.
As he pressed and smashed buttons beneath large fists, urgent looks passed between the five heroes. "Esper, kid, you alright? C'mon, say something, sweetheart."
"This is a dangerous thing to do to a human being, sir."
"It's not human, it's my experiment."
When she didn't answer, when her breathing shuddered through gnashed teeth, Starfire pushed through the door with Raven on her heels, with Beastboy's voice screeching in his ears to turn it off as the girl collapsed to her knees, fingers spreading across the metal plate of her chest armor, as if the mere action would restore the breath in her lungs.
"I'm trying, god damn it –"
"...Dangerous." the soft voice crackled through the microphone, and as Starfire and Raven fell into the room, Esper ran her hands through her chopped locks, oblivious to the shell-shocked looks from the other five. Tucking her arms into her chest, her fists curled beneath her chin as she curled up. "Danger...so much danger..."
When Esper felt eyes on her, she turned to look upwards, finding the Titans staring down at her, trying to bite back the questions that threatened to surface. It was Starfire, who sat down in front of her, forcing dark, troubled eyes into endless green ones, that shimmered kindness and compassion. Beside her, Beastboy dropped to his knees, worry evident on his features.
"You know, I think that's the most I've ever heard her say."
Brushing off Raven's dry humour, Starfire placed her hands on the girl's curled fists when they had lowered onto her knees, who ripped them back as if she had been burnt. Fear flooded her eyes and her chest heaved. "Dangerous...never hurt...never."
Their hearts broke at the sight of the girl, when tears fell down her cheeks as if the pain of ever hurting anyone, as she had been hurt, gave her immense fright. Wonder of what had truly happened to her flooded their minds once more, but as always in her presence, they folded them away for later. Starfire shushed the girl, who shook like a leaf.
"Friend-Esper, you are not dangerous," she spoke slowly, evenly, as not to send the girl into another panic attack as her breathing slowed. Though they walked on egg shells around her, they were learning which shells not to crack. "Your past does not define whether you are dangerous or not. You are not dangerous."
Esper stared at Starfire, as if in amazement at her kindness, but the steel bars were still clamped around her chest, her heart wildly pounding against the curve of her ribs as she tried to banish the scorched memories away. Labs, needles and men with sickly sweet smiles that resembled a cat's. As the finality of her situation fell into her mind, she dripped into the black, her mind too battered to keep her upright. The darkness swallowed her.
When the girl's eyes slotted closed, the first to catch the girl was Cyborg, guilt eating at his chest as he stared down at her. So little and slight in his arms, he was surprised she fit between both. He stood slowly, as not to jostle her and Raven placed the back of her hand against her forehead as worry slipped between the group.
"She's fine; she just got a pretty healthy dose of fear in her system," being an empath, Raven had felt wave upon wave of petrified memories and fear beneath her skin, like an unwanted itch across her body. She could also feel the chill snarl of Cyborg's guilt – he hadn't meant to send her into a panic attack, and they all knew it. But that didn't dampen the feeling. "Cyborg, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know that the tests they used with her were to do with hurting others."
The man shrugged as they pushed out of the room, expression harder than stone. "Still, I should've waited, at least until she was comfortable."
On his shoulder, her felt a gloved hand clasp it strongly, as if to steady him. It was rare that, out of the entire group, that Cyborg was the one who was guilty. Usually, he had to clean up the messes of their team, physically and emotionally. It was rare that Cyborg was the one who was a mess, over such a simple accident. "We'll wait another time to document her powers, but for now, let's let her get some rest, okay?"
With a brief subject change, Beastboy and Starfire started to pester Cyborg to give her a room in the tower, debating where it would be and how the excitable girl would convince the other to go shopping for clothes with her. Behind them, Raven and Robin held back, turning to each other.
"Something's not right here, Robin."
Robin hummed, raking a few nimble fingers through his unruly locks of midnight black hair. "I know – who makes a child hurt someone else as a test, perhaps killing them, based on the extent of her powers and how she reacted."
Beside him, Raven's expression darkened, "someone who has a thing for death."