VIII

Background

Presence of mind was the first thing to come along. No light or sound to accompany it; simply the sensation of being awake. The moments of sleep seeped away from the mind's eye rapidly, but the feel of reality was slow to take its place. A low, droning noise eventually started to penetrate the mental cocoon, forcing the mind to concentrate further on it. Still, no light came to the eyes.

The droning sound became clearer. It was not a long stream of sound as originally thought, but a broken tone only coming to the ears for a moment before it was gone. It was a constant pulse that would not fade away. Realization struck next as the sound continued. The timing of it seemed to match precisely with the feel of the heart beating through the chest.

Zerrich sighed from the back of his throat, groggy from his awakening. "Medicinal house," he complained in a weak grumble, recognizing the synthetic beeping sound of the heart monitor for what it was.

"We like to call them infirmaries," a raspy voice from Zerrich's side corrected him.

The new sound gave Zerrich reason to force his mind further to the surface. His eyes opened slowly to a dark room. The recessed lights were set to a low dim just above him as they ran across the goldenrod ceiling. Zerrich turned his head slowly to the voice on his left. Raven sat at the side of the bed, her arms folded across her chest as she leaned against the back of her chair. She had that expression across her face. The one that, after having watched Raven in action, Zerrich recalled as one of the expressions she often gave to caught criminals.

Zerrich rolled his head back onto his pillow. He closed his eyes and did a mental check of his body. He'd gone into a deep healing stasis, but it hadn't lasted as long as it needed to. He could tell parts of his body were still hurting, still needed rest. He sighed quietly then opened his eyes again.

"This isn't jail, is it," Zerrich stated more than asked.

"Two free points for you," Raven deadpanned.

Zerrich squinted a bit. "What are my totals so far?"

"I didn't know I was supposed to keep track."

"Hmm," Zerrich muttered. "Can we start from the two points?"

"We're going to start from where we left off," Raven answered.

Zerrich struggled to gesture at Raven with his left hand. "See, because I think that keeps me in the negative."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "If you want to joke around, I can just have you thrown in jail anyway."

"What kind of guarantee do I get that I won't end up going to jail after you're done?"

Raven scoffed. "You know, I thought when I was saving your life that there'd be something worthwhile in it." She got up from her chair and made for the door. "Maybe we're both digging in the wrong places."

Zerrich closed his eyes. She had gotten him out of that cave in one piece. "It's not that I don't appreciate your saving my life," he finally said. "It's just that I can't help but feel as though I've been dragged in the wrong direction, now."

Zerrich looked to Raven. She stopped at the door, her head looking over her shoulder. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire. You might be right. I'm not the one to say for sure. You've never been open enough for me to know."

Zerrich stared at the ceiling. "I'm assuming you want to talk now?"

"I think you still need to rest more. I have to admit, I'm surprised at your recovery."

"I've been practicing," Zerrich grimaced as he tried to adjust on the bed. He turned his head away from Raven, looking towards the ceiling again.

"I'm also very surprised to see your arm healed," she continued. "I'm positive it was broken a few days ago."

"Good memory," Zerrich answered.

Raven didn't make a noise from across the room. Zerrich kept his head against the pillow, not attempting to look over. His senses were still dull, his body aching.

"You're right," Raven answered the silence. "I said you needed rest. I'll let you be."

"I appreciate that," Zerrich responded. "And yes. I am thankful to you for saving my life. Though, I couldn't exactly be sure what condition I'd have been in if you hadn't intervened from the beginning."

"It happens when there's little communication," Raven answered. "We'll finish this later." Zerrich heard the infirmary door slide open, then closed. With that over, Zerrich concentrated on restarting his healing trance. Slowly, the world caved in on his mind as his body began to finish repairing what it had started.

-

-

The door closed behind Raven as she walked out into the chart room. The team was waiting near the large display monitor on the wall. Zerrich's vitals registered throughout the board. The rest of the Titans were hovered randomly around it, though they turned to Raven as she came out.

"What'd he say?" Robin asked, leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Not much," Raven said. "He's chosen to keep quiet for now. He figures we'll just throw him in jail once we're done with him."

"We still might," Robin retorted, quietly. "If you can't get him to open up, we might not have a choice."

Raven only nodded, though she felt her gut slightly rebel. If Zerrich truly did have all these answers the young girl had hoped for, this was the only chance she would have to get them. If she was going to get them at all.

"I decided to let him heal first," Raven finally said. "Maybe when he's a little healthier, he'll be in a better state of mind to talk."

Robin straightened from against the wall. "He gets one day. At least to start talking. After that…well, we'll see how far he progresses."

"Well, for right now," Cyborg interrupted, "I'm gonna have to put the Tower on full emergency lock-down. Nothing'll be able to get in or out, or move about the Tower."

Robin nodded. "And you're sure a full lock-down will keep Zerrich from getting away?"

"The systems prevent anything from getting in or out of any room, anywhere," Cyborg answered, "and I've improved on it since the last time it switched on. Raven helped me design the anti-subspace energy fields, too. You can't even travel interdimensionally so long as you got the lock-down in place. He ain't goin' nowhere."

"We'll all have to head to our rooms and get used to staying put for the night," Raven informed the team. "In the morning, Cyborg will shut the locks off and restore the Tower."

"We'll keep the infirmary on lock-down until we can all get down here. Other than that…" Cyborg stretched and yawned before slumping forward and making his way to his room, "…I'm ready to head off to bed. It's two hours to sunrise, and we haven't even hit the sack yet. Everyone else better bunk up now or they'll get locked in a hallway somewhere. And I don't wanna hear about it in the morning. Ain't gonna be in the mood."

The team broke ranks for the night, Raven looking over her shoulder at the door to the recovery room. The team had already discussed strategy for the next day. They would lead Zerrich to one of the empty quarters in the morning where Raven would question him about everything she could. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg would head back to the warehouse network and find out if they could dig through the collapsed passageway to see where it headed.

Raven turned around to walk to her room, finding Starfire waiting alone. "You do not believe the Zerrich to be a bad man," she said.

That girl and her insight…

"He's defensive. He's hiding a lot of things. I can't even probe his mind while he's in a healing trance." Raven began to walk. "But, no. I don't really think so. Not anymore."

Starfire nodded once, walking alongside Raven. "I have seen many warriors on Tamaran, and many such here on Earth; both hero and villain. I believe Zerrich had been...holding it back at times during our battle. He did not concentrate his full attack on us."

Raven shook her head. "No, that's not it. His defense seems to be his strength. He tries to wear his targets out, let them overexert, then clean up with what offensive abilities he has. Which are nothing to laugh at."

Starfire nodded. "Perhaps I have misstated my analogy. His focus did not appear to be on bringing us down, or wearing us out."

"He was trying for that door," Raven finished. "Yeah. I know. At first, I thought he was simply trying to get away. But, when I went after him…"

Raven didn't finish the sentence as she tried to think. What was I thinking?

"You believe the significance of what was down there is not directly connected to the Zerrich, correct?"

Raven looked to Starfire a moment before answering. "Yes. Slade…maybe. But not Zerrich."

"Then, we are in agreement," Starfire said, her voice slightly cheery.

Raven shook her head. "You know, this guy shot at you not eight hours ago. Have we forgotten already?"

"My recollection is perfect," Starfire answered, curiously. "My concerns are from the notion that we did not give this Zerrich a chance to explain himself. We simply made the assumption that he was the villain." Raven felt Starfire's head turn in her direction. "We even struck first. Perhaps we judged him too quickly."

Raven walked with Starfire up the stairway to the next level before answering. "Maybe. Maybe there's more to what he's hiding."

"You desire many answers," Starfire said. "I truly hope that you are able to receive them."

Raven couldn't help but stop walking. As much as she suppressed, she felt the slight edge of guilt in her stomach. "Starfire," she called out quietly.

Starfire turned around, and Raven suddenly realized the spot she'd put herself in. She wanted to apologize for the way she'd lied to her and left her out of the loop. In the past five days, she hadn't said anything of the sort. Now, she just felt awkward and dumb. It definitely wasn't her nature to open up in such a way.

"I'm not really good with this," Raven tried to start, staring at the floor. "Um. When I talked to you and everyone about why I never said anything until later. I felt like this was something I had to take care of. I just…" She shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to force the words to come out regardless of her embarrassment. "I'm sorry I closed you out. I know you were only worried about me."

The words were forced and with very little sympathy in their sound, but they were all true. Before she could lift her head and open her eyes Starfire had her in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground. "Gack!" Raven managed, feeling like her eyes were trying to pop out of their sockets.

"Friend!" Starfire soothed, loudly. "You have no need to explain yourself. We all simply wish for you to trust in us more. We are all here for each other, and this includes you. Oh, I wish I could convince you of this myself!"

Raven did her best to answer, but the hug cut her air off. Starfire seemed to realize this and was quick to relax her grip.

"Yeah," Raven panted. "I know. I'm…getting better. Maybe we should hurry up and get to our rooms before Cyborg locks us up where we stand."

"This is true," Starfire agreed. "Good night then, Raven."

Raven simply nodded back as Starfire floated down the hall to head to her room. Raven took her normal path getting to her quarters and slipped through the doorway. She hadn't realized how tired she was until she got to the bed and plopped down onto it. She allowed herself a moment to hear the Tower locking down tight as armor panels slid in front of her windows and just outside her door. Then, relaxing with a deep breath, Raven went off to sleep.

-

-

"RUN!" Raven shouted, her body jolting forward. Her eyes blurred from blood rush, her mind felt sluggish and her sense of surrounding was completely jumbled. Then, a sharp pain blasted across the right side of her head. A flash of stars took the place of blood spots in her vision, and Raven grabbed at the pain in her skull.

Raven's vision cleared up, and she realized she was in her room, sitting up in bed. She rubbed the side of her head above her ear, looking around to see what hit her. One of her books lay sprawled open at the edge of her bed. She realized it had come from the far shelf, and Raven looked around to find a few more editions all over the floor. She'd had an awful dream, and her powers must have snapped when she had awakened.

She sighed, continuing to rub her head, and groggily got up to clean the mess. It was bad enough waking up each morning—almost noon today, considering how late we turned in—to a demon within that constantly needed calming. Now, the irritation was stretching into the early evenings. The last thing she needed were dreams to stir the monster awake even before she had. She couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with the man now within the tower. There was no evidence linking the two issues, and Raven didn't have any gut instincts that were trying to tell her a connection existed. She simply…wondered.

She reorganized the books back on her shelf then headed for her sealed window, waiting for Cyborg to shut off the lock-down when he awoke. She'd take her shower later—once her door unlocked—and hope it would help to revitalize her body. She knew she would need to be sharp and in control later on for when she would have to speak with Zerrich. Concentrating on the immediate, Raven crossed her legs and hovered in place. Her eyes closed, and she softly began her meditation.

-

-

It was late afternoon by the time Robin, Starfire and Cyborg had gotten near the docks where the warehouses sat. They immediately went to the one of the battle from the night previous, prying open the large sliding floor. The tunnel underneath went twenty feet before rock and rubble blocked the path. Cyborg and Starfire immediately began digging with a combination of eye beams, hand blasts and personal cybernetic equipment, cutting away at rock and shaping the new walls into place.

"I can tell ya one thing," Cyborg started, blasting a bit of rock with his sonic cannon, "this wasn't just some freak cave-in. I don't think Raven set all this off like she thought."

Robin, trying to pitch in where he could with moving rubble, dropped a large boulder out of the way. "You think something else caused this?"

"Almost positive of it," Cyborg nodded. "The way this stuff is packed, looks like somethin' made the whole thing drop by sections. It couldn't have been started from just one spot."

Robin nodded. "Apparently, whatever's at the end of this thing is even more secretive than the abandoned base."

"Robin!" Starfire shouted from ahead. The other Titans ran to her position.

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

"I believe I have found our second attack drone," she answered, gesturing to the crushed limb sticking out from under the rock ahead.

"Looks like one," Robin agreed.

"Man, wonder how much farther this thing goes," Cyborg sighed quietly, checking his scanner. "Readings get weird after fifty feet. The rock's just too dense to get an accurate look ahead."

"We'll have to keep digging. If the cave-in was rigged, then this tunnel must have been important."

"Perhaps it was only buried to stall us," Starfire pointed out. "We may come to nothing more than empty space."

"If this was meant to slow us down," Robin started, "then we're already a day late. Whatever's left to find, we have to find it."

Very little more was said between the three as they continued to dig. At some point, Robin hoped, they'd come to something worthwhile.

I hope we come across this 'worthwhile' soon…

-

-

"Okay," Beast Boy said, "are you absolutely sure?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to answer this question anymore."

"All right, all right," Beast Boy responded. "It's just that I don't trust…machine stuff. Well, except for, like, the Gamesta…"

Raven kept her narrowed gaze on Beast Boy until he finally looked in her direction. Sure enough, the green Titan stopped mid-sentence. "Beast Boy," she said, simply.

"Right. Press the green button, then the red one twice after, then punch the code. If you say that's it."

Raven didn't answer as she waited for the first door to slide open. When the door to the locked-down hall finally slid away, Raven made her way to the next one.

"Raven?"

The girl let out a controlled breath. "What now?"

"Are…you going to be okay?"

Raven's annoyance floated away for a moment. She turned to look at Beast Boy. "I'll be fine," she answered.

"Okay," he nodded. "I'll be right outside if you need me. You know, guarding the door. Nothing gets in or out without dealing with me!" He flexed his scrawny arms, trying his hardest to look tough.

"Thanks," Raven deadpanned. "You can hit the buttons, now."

Again, Beast Boy nodded as he reached for the green button. His door slid closed, and the one in front of Raven opened. After she stepped in, the door closed behind her. It was followed by the echoing slam of the security panel closing on the other side of it. Zerrich sat against the wall, his legs bent in front of him with his arms resting loosely over his knees. Raven wasted no time walking over to the wall. When she got to him, she simply sat down with her legs crossed.

"You've finished healing?" she asked.

"A couple more sessions," Zerrich told her. "My body doesn't handle falling boulders too well."

"I don't think our bodies were meant to," she said, dryly.

Zerrich looked up at her. "This is where we start the interrogation?"

"It's not an interrogation," Raven answered.

"And you have me locked up bec…"

"Because we still don't trust you," Raven interrupted him. "You have no one to blame for that but yourself. If you want to change things so that you don't have to go to jail, then now would be the time to talk to me."

"You said so before. You can't guarantee anything."

Raven shrugged. "You have nothing to lose. I can't force you to tell me anything. But considering where we're at, why wouldn't you?" The girl leaned closer to emphasize her next point. "For everything you already know about myself and my past, I think you at least owe it to me to tell me who you are."

Zerrich took a deep breath then nodded. "All right. We can start with that."

"Where do you come from?" Raven asked.

"I was born in the Desmoth Regions," Zerrich said. "Nothing fancy to note about that, if you've ever been."

"I haven't," Raven responded. "I've seen the start of the Regions from a distance." The City of Azarath floated high over the Azarath lands themselves, providing a spectacular view from the city fringes. Raven's floating home was in constant movement, but it maintained its relative location year-round. "What did you do there? What were you?"

"Well, we came from the Eastern lands. My father took me to the local temples for our annual prayers as a young boy. That's where I took in what I believed to be my calling."

Raven straightened. "And that would be?"

"I should back up," Zerrich started. "My mother died when I was perhaps two years of age."

"Oh," Raven said, feeling slightly guilty about how she phrased her previous question. "I'm sorry."

Zerrich shook his head. "I hardly remember her. She died of Ascerium disease, something we still know very little about. One day, when my father took me to our closest temple, I witnessed a healing session between a man and one of the temple monks. To get to the point, I learned to become a healer."

Raven didn't answer right away. Suddenly, things were a bit clearer. "So, you discovered you had a natural ability to heal."

"Once the Monks and Elders taught me how to tap into my center. After that, my father took me to the temple as often as it was needed, many times leaving me for days when I would request it. He fully supported my efforts. I think we both felt the same on how appropriate it seemed, considering what had happened to my mother."

Raven nodded. "You felt as though her death by disease was of great significance."

"Yes. My father and I both read into it as fate."

"All right," Raven said. "How did you come across those scrolls?"

Zerrich raised his eyebrows. "Straight to it, huh?"

"Straight to it," Raven repeated. "If you don't mind including the 'big favor' you mentioned."

Zerrich crossed his legs under him, wincing slightly in discomfort as he stretched his back against the wall behind him. "I was finishing the last stage of my apprenticeship. I was to take a pilgrimage to—I don't know—gods know where. Three days out, I find a young girl deep in a chasm. She had broken both legs, had internal bleeding…it was very bad. I climbed down after her and healed her internal body to the best of my ability, but it was simply too much for one sitting.

"Over the course of three days, I nursed her back in that chasm until she could walk again. It rained the last day and the entire time back to the temple. Once the monks received her, I found out she was the granddaughter of a temple Elder from West Desmoth. I don't recall her reasons for being out as far as she was, but she was out far enough that none would have normally come across her way."

Raven unconsciously looked to her lap. "He gave you the scrolls as some kind of payment for his granddaughter?" It almost made sense. Elders had families just the same as anyone else. The only problem was, they were talking about Rontizma scrolls. Two of them at that. Raven found it hard to fathom even one being given in appreciation.

Zerrich simply nodded. "My saving the young girl seemed to satisfy my teachers." Zerrich shrugged, finishing his story. "I had three by the end, which is unusual."

Raven looked at him, letting one corner of her mouth pull tight towards her cheek. "Not as unusual as you might think," she said, dryly.

Zerrich smirked. "Then we're two students of a similarly unusual situation. In any case, my teachers found it suitable to let me start in the ranks of the healers of the temple. I refined my abilities over the course of three years."

"I'm going to take a wild guess," Raven started, "and say that you learned your other magic through use of the scrolls."

"That helped to refine my efforts, yes."

"Okay then," Raven leaned closer to Zerrich, "what made you want to learn everything else? Why?"

Zerrich scratched his head a moment. "That part gets complicated."

Raven shrugged. "We have all day. I don't have any plans."

"Some of it is rather…personal," Zerrich said.

He was stalling, and Raven knew it. "Then what possessed you to come looking for me? And claiming curiosity isn't going to cut it this time."

Zerrich paused a moment. "I'm…really not sure how to start."

"With the truth? It's as good a start as any."

"I…had a vision. Of sorts."

Raven raised a single brow. "Vision?"

"I'm sorry," Zerrich said, "I'm not sure I can go into the details yet. I don't think I've deciphered its meaning. Even if it means you still lock me up, I think it best I kept this to myself for now."

Raven straightened out. Zerrich was really in no position to be holding back information. Still, it was the young girl's job to get anything she could out of him, not confront him to a point where he decided to no longer cooperate.

She nodded. "Then let's go to something easy. You read the scrolls seven times. Tell me what you know how to do. Tell me what you've learned."