A/N: Yeah…
Disclaimer: How many times have you read "I do not own Teen Titans"? Seriously, I want an estimate.
"Her heartbeat is normal," Raven said glancing at Kale's medical chart.
"And she does not seem to have any injuries," Starfire added.
"So… why isn't she waking up?" Beast Boy asked tentatively.
"Because something's wrong," Cyborg said darkly, casting a glare about the room. He friends lowered their heads in submission.
They were in the Titans infirmary. Kale and Aqualad slept in beds side-by-side. Their heart meters were running evenly, there was no internal bleeding within either of them, no brain damage, no organ failure and no obvious permanent damage. Aqualad had third-degree burns all over his torso and arms, and his seizure after he had been freed from the barrier had pulled a muscle in one of his legs.
"Guys, we've got things to do, let's go file the reports," Robin said after a moment's silence.
Cyborg watched them go, and trained his eyes on Kale's monitor, daring anything to break pattern.
He watched Titans West go, after announcing that they were sending Speedy and Mas and Menos back while Bee waited. He trained his eyes back on Kale's still form.
He watched Aqualad go, a few hours later, when he was able to walk on his own. He rolled his muscles and kept his eyes on Kale.
He watched the night go as dawn's pink fingers touched the horizon, and still he trained his eyes on Kale.
It was not as simple as that, though. He dutifully watched Kale, but he thought about what he had seen in the warehouse. A whirling tornado starting on a cloudless autumn day? No likely at all. One of the Titans could have been manipulating Kale, but then he had cause to be furious, and he doubted that any of his friends (even the most radical ones) would have put her at that amount of risk.
No, there was no denying it, Kale had power.
But what kind? Where had it come from? Did she even know that she had it? Was she a spy? Had this past year been a lie? If so, why had she protected them?
He pondered these questions late into the night, and well after his head began to pound incessantly, before deciding in the morning that he would have to wait until Kale woke up to get them.
Kale felt as if she was floating in darkness. She remembered that her clothes had been whipping around her quickly, as if she had been in the middle of a storm. Her body throbbed with each beat of her heart but there was no pain.
She felt as if the breath coming in through her mouth was not real, and tried to breathe deeper. It did not help. She took in air until she felt as if her lungs were about to burst, but still she felt as if it was just blowing through her. It was not a bad feeling, just… not normal. She took another breath and felt energy being restored to her. Another and a little more energy was given. So it was a waiting game, then.
She breathed in and out for what felt like hours, though really it could have been minutes. She counted the amount of breaths it took until she could clench her fingers. Twenty-three. Until she could lift a single finger. Twelve more.
She thought she could feel someone running their fingers through her hair. It was a man, and he was whispering to her. Something warm and wet ran down her face, tinkling her and making her want to squirm.
"Please Kale, please make it through this. Please," a strained a distraught voice reached her, though the darkness surrounding her muffled it.
There was a man pleading with her to survive. Why? She had no one, right? She was alone in… where, again? Ithaca? No. Barcelona? Probably not. It smelled different. She was somewhere else, somewhere different. She remembered a long trip on a boat, because she did not want to go on a plane.
Kale's eyes fluttered open. She sat up, holding her head. It ached. "Ugg… what's going on?" She was lying in a hospital bed. She looked around the room. It was white and clean, but she did not recognize it.
"Where am I?" she asked the tiled ceiling, not expecting an answer.
"Kale, are you all right?" Someone's voice came from the other end of the room.
Kale moved her head, her neck a little stiff, toward the voice's owner. He was tall, extremely tall and half-robot. Kale frowned.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
The man gaped, finding something amazing. "You mean, you don't remember me?"
Kale blinked and reached for who he was. Nothing came. She frowned further, and reached for where she was last night. Nothing. She looked for her job, for her favorite pizza store, for her friends in her mind, but found nothing. She looked at the mechanical man, her eyes getting wide as panic welled within her.
She whispered, "I can't remember anything…"
"Kale," the man began pleadingly, "Kale, please. It's me, Cyborg."
Cyborg watched as Kale's eyes immediately darkened as soon as he uttered his name. Recently, Kale's eyes had been looking darker than they ever had and when she had first woken up, Cyborg had noticed, her eyes were lighter than when he had first met her. Now, they had changed again and he was worried he had made her condition even worse.
After a moment of staring at Cyborg as if he were an alien (or something much worse, as she had met and befriended many aliens at that point), Kale screamed and clutched her head. She shook frightfully and the green lines on her heart monitor jumped of the scale.
"Kale!" Cyborg reached out to touch her, but was unsure what to do.
She moved away from him.
A few minutes later, the fit had passed and she was sleeping soundly again. He heard quiet talking in the hall, and Raven entered the room. Cyborg turned to his friend helplessly.
"What's going on with her?" he asked, his eyes desperately searching hers for an answer.
Raven shook her head, "She's obviously not human. She could have a disease that is communal to her species or she could have experience something traumatic and her brain has become accustomed to blocking out her memory."
Cyborg bit his tongue. He did not like that answer. Raven noticed how tense Cyborg was and motioned to the cot Aqualad had vacated approximately twelve hours before.
"You should sleep."
"No," Cyborg said firmly.
Raven looked at him hard, "Sleep. I'll wake you if Kale's condition changes."
Cyborg watched her, and, deciding that she was not trying to trick him into resting, lay on the cot. He tried to keep his eyes open, but as soon as his head hit the soft pillow, his mechanical brain took over and he was snoring in seconds.
A/N: I know it's been awhile, I'm sorry. Review!